Monochrome
by TheDogzLife
Summary: Team Plasma have returned once more, but this time they have a new trick up their sleeve – and they'll go to extreme measures to make sure their plans don't fail. With the lives of all Pokémon resting in their hands, as well as the safety of their friends, will Unova's heroes and champion be able to stop the group's schemes once and for all?
1. Prologue

**Sooo I actually started writing a Pokémon fanfic. I'm not sure whether I'm proud of or ashamed of myself xD**

**If you couldn't tell this is based on gen 5, so BW and BW2 (although it'll be mainly based on W/W2 because they're the versions I've played). ****There's just a few random things I should probably point out beforehand though.**

**1. In this, White is Touko/Hilda (BW female protagonist), Black is Kyouhei/Nate (BW2 male protagonist). Reasoning? When I started writing this I didn't like using the Japanese names... and well, one of Kyouhei's names as originally Black2 so why not. Ehe.**

**2. For the sake of me hating writing about genderless characters, Reshiram is female and Zekrom is male. They just look that way to me mk.**

**3. And for the sake of him actually having any role in this story since of course I don't wanna leave any of my favourite characters out, N still has Reshiram rather than giving her to Black. That part of the aftergame never happened in this mk.**

**Any shippings in this? Maybe, maybe not. You shall have to seeeeeee.**

**Let the failing commence, hazaah.**

* * *

The sky was cloudless as White sat back against a tree, taking a deep breath of the clean forest smells. Being out in the forest was always so refreshing. It was a lot different than back in Unova, or the cities surrounding it.

It had been over two years since she'd left Unova. She'd beaten the Pokémon League and become the champion, but with that reputation came an awful lot of attention and eventually she'd just wanted to get away from it all. So she'd left the country to seek out a quieter life.

Zekrom was curled up nearby, the dragon twitching in his sleep. It was only in quiet places like this that the poor Pokémon could be let out of his Pokéball – if White let him out where there were many people around then they'd soon notice that she had the legendary dragon Pokémon and any hopes of a quieter life out here would be crushed.

White let out a contented sigh, watching a Pidove grooming its feathers in the trees above, and a couple of Deerling hopping around the trees. A few years ago she would have been racing around the forest, trying to train her Pokémon group, but now that she'd beaten the league and become the champion she was much less interested in that. Nowadays she only fought in Pokémon battles when she was challenged to them, and even then she sometimes let her opponents beat her despite how strong her Pokémon were. Winning all the time without giving anyone else a chance would be boring; they didn't know who she was. And still, she made sure to venture out into the surrounding areas to let her Pokémon out of their Pokéballs; she couldn't imagine it would be too much fun to be stuck in a Pokéball for days on end.

A young wild Deerling approached her cautiously, nose twitching and eyes round with curiosity. It tipped its head to one side.

"Hey there," White said softly, gently holding out one hand. It didn't look like it wanted to attack her, so there was no need to panic. Wild Pokémon only attacked when you disrupted their homes in the long grass; this one was obviously just curious.

The Deerling nudged her hand with its nose, letting out a happy chirping noise as it realised that she was friendly.

Suddenly there was a loud ringing sound. Immediately the Deerling turned and bolted, as did the others. The Pidove quickly spread its wings and flew away. Zekrom let out a grunt as he was woken from his nap.

"Dang…" White muttered, fumbling for her bag. Once she'd searched through the endless items inside it she finally found the source of the sound; her Xtransciever ringing. That was strange. She hadn't received a call from anyone in ages. "I wonder who it is…" she thought aloud.

She pressed the button to answer the call, and immediately an image appeared on the screen alongside her own.

"White! White, is that you? Can you hear me?"

"Cheren!?" White blinked in surprise. "I haven't seen you in ages! How are you?"

"I'm fine," Cheren said, although White considered that he didn't exactly seem so. His voice sounded strained, as if something was stressing him. _He's a gym leader now. That must be why; I can't imagine it's an easy job._

"What's up?" White asked. "You hardly ever call me, so I'm assuming either something's up or Bianca has been lecturing you on the importance of talking to everyone again."

"Ah… sorry about that," Cheren said sheepishly. "But yes, something is definitely up. White, is Zekrom still with you?"

"Yes?" White told him, confused. The dragon wandered closer to investigate as he heard his name. "Why?"

"It's kind of hard to explain… but there's more trouble in Unova. I think it's Team Plasma again – they've already had a second attempt at trying to ruin the country earlier this year, and apparently they still don't give up. We need all the strong trainers we can get, and well…"

"I get it, I get it," White smiled, holding up her free hand. "You want me to return to Unova and help."

"Well, if it's no trouble," Cheren pleaded. "I… I know that I was unable to defeat them myself…"

As he trailed off, White was left with silence for a few moments. "Cheren? Is everything okay?"

"Hm? Oh… no, it's nothing… but if you can help us, I'd be really grateful."

White thought for a moment. Cheren hadn't told her entirely what the problem with Team Plasma was but for him to resort to asking her for help when she was all the way out here… it must be pretty serious. Not to mention that he didn't seem to be quite himself. It was almost like he was upset about something…

Well, there was only one thing she could do faced with a situation like this. "Yeah, okay. I'll go back to Unova as soon as I can and see if I can be of any help."

Cheren gave what looked to be a sigh of relief. "Thank you, White."

And with that, the call cut off.

White continued to stare at the blank screen for a few moments. She was broken out of her trance as she felt Zekrom nudging her shoulder. Patting his neck, she stood up, putting the Xtransciever back in her back before turning to the Pokémon.

"I don't know what's going on either, but it must be serious. I don't think I've ever seen Cheren look so stressed out…"

Zekrom stood up to his full height, letting out something that sounded like a quiet grumble and glancing away into the distance. The dragon Pokémon was one of the creators of the new Unova; it was probably just as worried about what was going on there as she was. Even though she didn't have the ability to talk to Pokémon like a trainer she knew once, sometimes it almost felt like she could understand them, just from the gestures or noises they made. And right now, Zekrom certainly seemed concerned as he tried to see past the trees. If it hadn't been for her, he'd probably have taken off already.

"Okay then," White said eventually, taking Zekrom's Pokéball from her belt. "Looks like it's time to go and pack. Then I guess we'll be flying back to Unova."


	2. A Recurring Threat

**And now we have the introduction of Black. Yay?**

**I'm kinda saving up chapters here, I've written more already I just don't wanna uploadspam everyone xD**

**Whether the things in this story actually work I guess we'll never know. But y'know. My story. Mine. Welcome to the land of my mind.**

**In time I'm sure Black and White will actually have obvious personalities... just might take a while...**

* * *

A few days earlier…

Black was roused from his sleep by a beeping noise as his alarm clock went off. He blearily opened one eye. What day was it again? Eh, he probably didn't have any reason to get up so early today. Reaching out, he hit the switch on top of the clock and the beeping stopped. Left with silence once more, Black snuggled back into the warmth of his bed. He'd never liked getting up early.

He was just drifting back off again when suddenly there was a loud noise from somewhere outside. It sounded like some kind of explosion. Instantly he jolted up, glancing around until his eyes finally came to rest on the window. Jumping out of bed, he ran over to the glass to see outside and try and work out what was going on.

Met with the familiar view of Aspertia City, he scanned the area, rubbing his eyes to try and remove the bleariness from them. For a moment he wondered if he'd been imagining things, until he saw one of the other residents who was standing around outside. They were glancing around too, looking confused.

Then Black noticed a dust cloud rising from somewhere across the city. That didn't look good. Something was definitely going on, and well… he _was_ the current Pokémon champion of Unova. If there was any trouble then he should try and help out. Had to keep up the reputation.

Wanting to get over there as son as possible, Black raced to the door. He was half way there when he noticed he was only wearing pyjama trousers.

_Yeah… perhaps I should put some clothes on first…_

* * *

Five minutes later and now fully clothed, Black raced down the streets of Aspertia City. The dust cloud was still there, and it seemed even more spread out than before. The worst of it seemed to be just outside the Trainers' School…

What the heck was going on here?

"Scrafty! Hi Jump Kick!"

"Stoutland, use Bite!"

_A Pokémon battle? In the middle of the street!?_

Black tried to waft away the dust as he reached the road that the Trainers' School was on. He'd recognised the second voice and knew that Cheren was in this battle, but he hadn't recognised the first.

Once he was closer he could see them through the dust. Cheren was standing across the street from two people he didn't know, but he recognised their outfits immediately.

_Team Plasma! Why are they here? I thought we defeated them!_

"Cheren!" Black called. "What's going on? Why are Team Plasma here!?"

The gym leader cast a quick glance at Black, not wanting to take his attention away from the battle. "I don't know. They showed up here and sent their Pokémon out to battle me."

The Team Plasma member who wasn't currently in the fight – he looked like he'd been defeated already – noticed Black as well.

"It's that kid who's the champion!" he muttered to his accomplice.

"We'll deal with him in a minute!" the other grunt snapped. "Scrafty, use Brick Break!"

"Stoutland, Retaliate!"

The Scrafty jumped first, landing a heavy karate chop on the Stoutland as it tried to avoid the attack. The Pokémon couldn't stand up to the fighting-type move and it was already looking pretty beaten up. As soon as the attack hit, the Pokémon fainted.

Black could tell from the frustrated sigh Cheren gave that the Stoutland had been his last Pokémon in fighting condition. The gym leader took one of the Pokéballs from his belt. "Stoutland, you did great. Come back now."

"Scrafty, quickly! Use Slash!"

"What!?" Cheren cried.

Before the dog was able to be returned to its Pokéball, the Scrafty lunged forward, delivering a powerful slash. Black watched in disbelief. He'd never seen anyone try to attack a fainted Pokémon before.

Despite the fact that it had fainted, the Stoutland let out a hideous yowl as it was hit by the Scrafty's unwarranted attack. It was thrown backwards and fell to the ground once more in front of Cheren.

"What…" the Gym Leader gasped.

"Serperior! Grass Blade!"

There was a flash of green as a Serperior flashed past, hitting the Scrafty with a green blade. It was such a fierce attack that the Pokémon fainted instantly.

"Tch!" the Team Plasma grunt tutted, returning the Scrafty to its Pokéball. "Not another brat to deal with."

"Hey! Team Plasma!" Hugh shouted, racing towards them through the settling dust cloud. "What are _you_ doing here!? And what the hell is going on?"

"Time to run away," the grunt hissed, and immediately the two Team Plasma members raced away, pushing past Black as he tried to stop them.

"What is Team Plasma doing here?" Hugh snapped.

"I don't know, but—"

"I'll have to find out then!" Hugh interrupted, racing past Black in the direction Team Plasma had headed.

"Um… good luck…?" Black muttered, watching him go. It seemed that Hugh still held a grudge against them for stealing his sister's Pokémon, even though it had been returned to her a few months ago when they'd defeated them…

"No… Stoutland…!"

"Huh?" Black glanced around to see Cheren fall to his knees. "Cheren!?"

He hurried over. Stoutland was still collapsed and at first Black had assumed it was simply still fainted, but…

"I can't get his Pokéball to work…" Cheren choked, clutching the orb helplessly in one hand. "And he's not breathing…"

Black took a step back in shock. "Y-you mean…? That Slash, it…?"

"Yeah… Team Plasma killed him."

* * *

Having not really known what to do to help, Black decided to leave Cheren alone to grieve for his lost Pokémon and headed out to Route 19. He'd seen Hugh follow Team Plasma out here and he had the feeling that his friend might need some help. There had only been two grunts in the city but who knew how many more of them were hiding nearby.

At first he couldn't see anyone. As he raced through the grass a wild Purrloin jumped into the air with a shriek as he accidentally stood on its tail.

"Sorry!" Black apologised, not stopping to battle it. It was only a low-level Pokémon and there wasn't any time for that now.

The Purrloin let out an irritated hiss, turning away pointedly.

"Hey! Get off me you stupid—!"

Finally Black spotted Hugh. One of the Team Plasma grunts had caught him and had an arm around his neck to stop him getting away. The other grunt was holding a Pokéball.

"Black!" Hugh shouted. "You're gonna have to back me up! They've got Serperior!"

Instinctively, Black took Lucario's Pokéball from his belt, prepared to battle to save his friend and the stolen Pokémon. Yet before he could even get anywhere near them something appeared out of nowhere in front of him. Luckily he managed to skid to a halt and keep his balance dodging back as something narrowly missed hitting him in the face.

"Hey! What're—" he started, but broke off as he realised who it was.

"Sorry, but I can't let you interfere."

It was one of the Shadow Triad. He towered over Black, his nose and mouth covered by a dark mask as usual.

Slightly intimidated but not wanting to let it show, Black stood as tall as he could – which was at least a foot shorter than the shadow – still holding Lucario's Pokéball in his hand. He wasn't afraid to fight if he had to. "What's going on? Why is Team Plasma here?"

"I have been ordered to only give you limited information," the shadow said simply. "Ghetsis has stated that you will not be of any effect to our plans this time. You are of no need to us either, as you do not have the legendary Pokémon."

"What? What plans?"

"You'll have to find out for yourself. Whether you find out or not has no consequence. This time you cannot defeat us."

"If you want a battle—" Black started, but before he could finish his sentence the shadow vanished. He was just in time to see Team Plasma racing away once more, Hugh gasping for breath now that he'd been released from the headlock.

_They seemed pretty confident… they sounded certain that the champion of Unova couldn't defeat them. And why are they looking for the legendary Pokémon?_

As much as it frustrated him, it looked like he was going to have to work it out himself, like the shadow had said. He walked over to Hugh. "You okay?"

"I told you to back me up!" Hugh snapped.

Black took a step back. "Sorry, I was too busy avoiding getting hit in the face by one of the shadow triad."

A moment later the fury in Hugh's eyes died down slightly. "You're right. It's not your fault. But they took Serperior, and… aagh!" he punched a tree in frustration. "This is just like five years ago… stupid Team Plasma!"

"Hey, don't worry," Black assured in an attempt to calm him down before he ended up breaking his hand or something. "We defeated Team Plasma before, we'll defeat them again. I'll make sure we get Serperior back."

For a moment Hugh didn't reply. Then he let out a long sigh, shaking the hand he'd hit the tree with. "Yeah. We will. What were they trying to do back in Aspertia City?"

"How should I know?" Black shrugged. His thoughts went back to the Stoutland. "They fought against Cheren for no apparent reason and they didn't stop even when his Stoutland fainted…"

"Well, what happens when you attack a fainted Pokémon?" Hugh asked.

Black hesitated. He didn't want to worry Hugh now that Team Plasma had stolen his Serperior, but he was bound to keep asking until Black told him anyway. "They die."

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Hugh's face went pale. "So that's what happened to the Stoutland… we have to get Serperior back as soon as possible!"

"Wait!" Black cried, realising that Hugh was about to go racing off after Team Plasma again. "They could be anywhere by now, and we don't know what they're planning."

"Well, what do _you_ suggest we do then?" Hugh tutted.

"Go back to Aspertia City and make sure Cheren's okay," Black stated, hoping that his friend wouldn't completely ignore his suggestion and follow Team Plasma regardless. "He helped us defeat Team Plasma, and he helped defeat them two years ago as well; he probably knows more about their motives than we do. He might be able to help us work out what they're trying to do here."

Hugh cast a glance in the direction Team Plasma had gone. "Well… okay then. But I _will_ get my Pokémon back from Team Plasma. And when I next see them, they'll be faced with so much of my rage that they won't even know what hit them!"

* * *

"What the—" the man by the entrance looked rather surprised as Black and Hugh burst in through the door of the Pokémon Gym. "Oh, it's you two. What brings you here?"

"We're looking for Cheren," Hugh said simply. "Is he still here?"

"Yes. He said he wasn't going to be seeing any challengers today but he hasn't told me why. Although, you two already have all your badges so I'm assuming you're here for another reason."

"I'm not surprised," Hugh muttered.

"We just need to ask him about something," Black shrugged.

"Oh, okay then," the man smiled. "Well, he's not out here so he's probably in the library."

"Okay," Black nodded. "Thanks."

They headed back into the main part of the trainers' school, walking down the corridor to the small library at the end of the hall. Black reflected on the last time he'd been here; just a new trainer, with low-level Pokémon, excited about getting his first ever gym badge… he'd only dreamed of becoming the Pokémon champion then, not expecting it to really happen.

Black looked around the open door of the library. Cheren was leafing through a book on the far side of the room. A couple more books lay open on the table.

"Cheren?" he called quietly, having that instinct to try and remain quiet in a library despite the fact that there wasn't anyone else here.

"Hm?" Cheren glanced around at last. "Oh, Black, it's you."

Deciding not to mention the Stoutland, Black wandered over to look at the books on the table. "Researching something?"

"I'm trying to find out how this works," Cheren muttered. "I've never witnessed a Pokémon get killed by another before."

Well, so much for not bringing up the subject. "Have you found anything?"

"Sort of. Apparently once a Pokémon has fainted and no longer able to battle, it's already lost it's capability to withstand attacks. If they're hit by something powerful enough after they've fainted, then well…"

"Ah," Black mumbled, trying to make sense of these books. He'd never been one for studying. "Cheren, do you think Team Plasma is doing this for a reason? I mean, they just ran off and stole Hugh's Serperior…"

"Team Plasma has always rattled on about 'Pokémon liberation' or whatever they decide to call it," Cheren told them. "But I don't know why they'd go out of their way to try and kill Pokémon. For all we know, this could just be a one-off thing with some of the former grunts being idiots."

"I don't think so," Black shook his head. "We ran into one of the Shadow Triad on Route 19. He said that they had some kind of plans and that we wouldn't be able to beat them this time."

"We must be looking at something much bigger then," Cheren mused. "But still, for a couple of grunts to have Pokémon that strong… there's no saying how much Team Plasma have been training their Pokémon since we last saw them. We'll have to be careful. We may even need some extra help if things get too bad."

"Even if we do need some help, we _will_ stop Team Plasma," Black said determinedly. "They've been defeated twice before; we can beat them again."


	3. Reunion

**Well, the main protagonists finally meet. That is all.**

**Did I ever mention that I totally ship CherenxBianca...?**

* * *

"It's good to be back, eh Zekrom?"

The black dragon let out a happy growl in reply as White watched the land below slowly passing by. They were currently flying over the north of Unova. A lot had changed since they were last here. Route 10 seemed to have been blocked by a landslide but there was another path leading to the Pokémon League, which appeared to wind through the ruins of Team Plasma's old castle.

Of course, Team Plasma. She'd have to keep an eye out for any of them while she had a bird's eye view of the country.

She'd spoken to Cheren again earlier that day. At first he'd suggested meeting up at a place called Aspertia Town, which White had never heard of before, so they'd settled on their old home Nuvema Town instead.

"No sign of Team Plasma anywhere," White muttered, still looking around. They were over Skyarrow Bridge now, so that wasn't any real surprise.

She was looking forward to seeing her friends again, though. And her mum as well. Ever since she'd left Unova, her mother had called her every week to make sure she was okay. She hadn't actually told her that she was returning to the country for a while, so that would be a nice surprise.

"There it is!" White cheered as she caught sight of the rooftops of Nuvema Town. They'd be there any minute now.

* * *

"Um… Professor? Professor Juniper?"

"Ah! Um, yeah, hm, what…?" the professor gasped as she woke up.

"You fell asleep," Bianca laughed.

"Hey, I've been out in the desert all morning, you can't blame me for being tired," Juniper said in mock defence. She gently shooed Minccino from her lap and picked up the papers resting on the table. "And I found something strange, too."

"Huh? What?" Bianca blinked. Her Musharna was floating around next to her and it let out a curious cooing noise at the sound of news.

"There were very few Pokémon around on Route 4," Juniper reported, sounding concerned. "There wasn't even much of a sandstorm out there today, and you know how much Sandiles like to hide in the deep sand."

"Weird," Bianca muttered. "Did you want me to check it out sometime?"

"What, incase the Pokémon decided they just didn't like me?" Juniper joked.

"N-no, I meant like in a few days in case they come back or—"

"Bianca, you know I'm only joking," Juniper laughed. "But yes, that would be helpful. You've been stuck in the lab for a while now."

Just then there was a knock on the door that made both Pokémon jump. Patting her Minccino's head, Juniper stood up and walked over to the door, opening it. "Oh, hello, you two!"

"Is Bianca here? We—"

"Cheren!"

"Wah!"

The gym leader was nearly knocked over backwards as Bianca ran over and hugged him. Black couldn't help but burst out laughing at his surprised expression. Musharna floated around cheerily, nudging Black's arm. He patted her head.

"I haven't seen you in ages!" Bianca beamed.

"Um… doesn't require… hugging…" Cheren said awkwardly, looking embarrassed. This just made Black laugh even more. He thought he might actually fall over as the gym leader shot him an irritated glance.

Bianca finally released Cheren from the hug. "Oh, hello Black. I haven't seen you for ages either!" To his somewhat relief, she didn't try to hug him. "What brings you guys all the way out here?"

Cheren stepped back, readjusting his tie out of habit. "We're meeting White here soon; I thought we might as well tell you."

"White's coming back to Unova?" Bianca gasped. "That's awesome! I can't wait to see her again!"

Black had to admit that he was excited too. He'd never met White, but he'd heard the stories of her defeating Team Plasma two years ago, and a lot of people seemed to know of her. All he knew other than that was that she had been friends with Cheren and Bianca – and that a lot of people had told him that he reminded them of her. He didn't know if that was good or bad.

Since White didn't know where Aspertia Town was, Cheren and Black had travelled out to Nuvema Town to meet her. In the hopes that he wouldn't just go off looking for Team Plasma on his own, Cheren had told Hugh to stay behind in case anything happened in Aspertia City whilst he was away. He'd probably seen through his words right away, but hopefully he'd have the sense not to do anything stupid…

It was then that Black noticed something in the distance. Just above the horizon, there was something heading towards them.

"What's that over there?" he asked, pointing to the sky.

Bianca walked over to where Black was so that she could see past the lab building, holding up one hand to shield her eyes from the sun. "Oh! It's White!"

"Really?" Juniper gasped, going over to join them.

"Yay!" Bianca cheered.

Cheren and Black exchanged a glance.

"Well, I don't know White," Black shrugged. "But I hope she doesn't mind there being a welcome party…"

* * *

Before Zekrom had even touched the ground, White had already jumped from his back and raced over to Cheren and Bianca, giving them a group hug.

"White!" Bianca cheered. "It's been ages!"

"Why does everything require hugging?" Cheren rolled his eyes, but even so he was still smiling.

"I'm glad to see you guys again too!" White beamed, stepping back at last. "And hey, Professor!"

"Welcome back, White!" Juniper waved. "I'd love to stay a part of this reunion but I have work to get back to. Be seeing you!"

White watched her go back into the lab. "Wow, Professor Juniper actually getting on with her work? I can see things have definitely changed around here!"

"Oh, something came up on Route 4," Bianca shrugged. "You know what Juniper's like when anything strange happens. She is a professor, after all!"

White eventually noticed that there was someone else here as well, hanging back slightly. The hat showed that they were a Pokémon trainer but White had never seen them before. She walked over.

"Hi, I don't believe we've met before," she smiled, holding out a hand. "I'm White."

"Black," he said, shaking her hand.

"Ironic," White laughed. "Cheren said that someone else was coming with him to Nuvema Town, I guess that's you."

"Yeah," Black replied somewhat awkwardly, running a hand through his hair. "I came here to help deal with Team Plasma."

"Right. Team Plasma." White made an about-turn and walked back over to Cheren. "So, what's the plan?"

"Plan?" Cheren blinked. "Erm… we don't really have a _plan_, as such… we're still confused as to what their motives are this time."

"I guess we're just trying to hunt them down at the moment then, right?" White mused.

Cheren just shrugged. "I guess."

"Team Plasma?" Bianca cried. "I didn't know they were even around still."

"I don't think anyone did," Cheren said pointedly.

"Well, we'd better start looking for them!" Bianca declared. "The sooner they go away the better. Cheren, we'll head to Route 4 since I said to Juniper that I'd go check the place out anyway. White, you and Black should go check out past Route 5."

"Wait, since when do you order us around?" Cheren protested, looking somewhat surprised.

"Since I became the professor's assistant," Bianca said plainly. "Anyway, she said there was a lack of Pokémon there earlier, and for all we know Team Plasma could have something to do with it."

"Well, guess we're checking out Route 4 then—hey!" the gym leader cried as Bianca grabbed his hand and practically dragged him away in the direction of Route 1. He glanced back at White and Black. "Let us know if you find anything!"

White watched them go. As soon as they were out of sight, Black and White both burst out laughing.

"Was Bianca always like this?" Black asked, regaining his composure.

"Yup," White giggled. "You should have seen when we got our first Pokémon. She insisted we had a battle in my house – my room was a mess afterwards!"

"My mum would have a fit if I did something like that," Black snorted.

"Speaking of which," White said, as if she'd suddenly remembered something. "Would you mind waiting here with Zekrom for a moment? I need to go and see my mum. She doesn't even know I'm back in Unova."

Not waiting for a reply, she hurried away towards her old house.

Black just watched her go, blinking. He glanced at Zekrom.

"Um… hi…?"

The legendary Pokémon gazed at him for a moment. Then it gave an uninterested grunt and looked away.

"Well," Black muttered. "It's nice to meet you too, Zekrom."

* * *

White gave the front door an experimental push; as usual, it was unlocked. That proved that there was definitely someone at home.

"Mum?" she called, walking into the house.

"Hm?" her mother was sat at the table, reading a newspaper. As soon as she heard someone calling her, she glanced around and gasped. "White!"

She stood up as White raced over to give her mother a hug. "Cheren asked me to come back for a while to help them against Team Plasma," White explained.

"Well, I'm very glad to see you again, honey," her mother smiled. After a moment she broke out of the hug, her hands on White's shoulders. "You've grown so much since you left!"

"Mum, you see me every week on the Xtransciever!" White laughed. _I guess mums never change._

"Yes, but it's different seeing you in person for a change," her mother beamed. "So, are you staying for lunch, or going off with your friends again?"

"Well, I'm heading out with the others to try and look for Team Plasma," White shrugged, feeling somewhat guilty. She'd only just got back and already she was leaving her mum again. "I'll be back soon, though."

"Knowing you, White, you'll be gone for days," her mother sighed. "Well, if you're leaving Unova again any time soon, I want you to at least come and have a meal with me first. I need to make sure you're still eating properly."

"Mum!" White protested.

"Well, you make sure to take care of yourself, darling," she smiled. "And if whoever you're looking for is dangerous, be careful, won't you?"

"Yeah, I'll be careful," White stated, heading back out the door. "Don't worry."


	4. The Search Is On

Black couldn't help but feel like he was having a slight case of vertigo as they flew over Skyarrow Bridge. Once she'd returned from her house, White had suggested they go straight to Nimbasa City, since Cheren and Bianca were on foot and would be able to check anywhere between Nuvema Town and Route 4. She'd offered to let Black ride on Zekrom with her – an offer he was now regretting. There was nothing to hold onto and every now and then he felt like he was going to fall off into the water below. It crossed his mind that perhaps he should have just used his Braviary to fly to the city.

"You okay back there?" White asked, glancing back. She was probably used to flying around on the back of a dragon.

"Y-yeah…" Black replied shakily, forcing himself to give a somewhat confident smile as he tried not to look down at the wide river. Balance had never been one of his particularly strong points and the thought of falling into the lake seemed to make that even worse.

White seemed to notice his uneasiness – it wasn't as if he was doing a particularly good job at hiding it. "Well, don't worry; we're nearly at Nimbasa now."

They flew over Castelia's skyscrapers, Black still holding on for dear life as he considered that falling off here would be even worse and probably certain death. The sandstorm on Route 4 didn't make the task any easier. Black was met with a giant rush of relief as they finally reached Nimbasa City, landing next to the Pokémon Centre. The moment they reached the ground, Black jumped from Zekrom's back, thankful to have solid ground under his feet once more.

"Thanks, Zekrom," White smiled, briefly resting her hand on his nose. The dragon let out a contented noise that almost sounded like a deep purr. "I bet you're tired. You can rest inside your Pokéball now, okay?"

As White took the sphere from her belt, Zekrom gave a quiet grumble, nodding slightly. Then he disappeared inside the Pokéball.

Black glanced around at the city, stretching after having to sit still for so long. Everything was just as colourful and lively as ever; he could see the Ferris wheel arching into the sky from here, and the sound of cheering rose from over at the stadium where there was probably a game taking place. Music echoed from the Pokémon Gym, where Elesa was probably holding another show.

"No time for sightseeing," White joked, walking past him. "We've got to head for Route 5."

"I know, I know," Black held his hands up in mock defence, hurrying after her.

They walked up the main street of Nimbasa, past the Battle Subway, and headed along the road to Route 5. There was someone heading the opposite way, and Black noticed the brightly-coloured outfit before it even registered that he recognised them.

"Well, if it isn't Unova's hero! It's been an age since anyone saw you!"

"Alder!?" White exclaimed.

The former champion laughed. "Glad to know you still recognise me after all this time."

"Who could forget the almighty Alder?" White joked, shaking her head.

"And I see you've already met our current champion, huh?" he mused. "I bet you two would make quite an unbeatable team!"

"Current champion?" White blinked. "Who?"

Alder glanced at Black in surprise. "You mean you haven't said anything?"

White just stared at him, looking somewhat shocked. "You're the Unova _champion_!?"

"Um… yes…?" Black smiled sheepishly. "I thought Cheren told you…"

"Cheren doesn't tell me all that much," White shrugged, still looking surprised. "I figured that you must have at least one Gym Badge, but… wow. Champion!"

"Well, I must say, this certainly seems to be an eventful day indeed," Alder teased. "So, what brings Unova's hero back? Or did you decide to take a leaf out of my book and go on a new journey?"

Finally getting over her shock, White looked back at Alder once more. "I'm not _that_ old! Anyway, I came back because apparently Team Plasma has been causing more trouble. Right now we're helping Cheren and Bianca find them."

"Team Plasma?" Alder blinked. "I haven't seen them for months. Although, there don't seem to have been that many wild Pokémon around recently… I don't know if there's any connection, but that's all I got, I'm afraid."

_Not many wild Pokémon around?_ Black felt the words echo in his head after Alder finished speaking. He couldn't help thinking that there was a link somehow. There were always a lot of wild Pokémon around, no matter what season or weather. _Unless…_

_What if there really _is_ a connection?_

"Thanks, Alder," Black nodded quickly. "C'mon, White, we've gotta keep looking for them." He hurried past Alder towards the entrance to Route 5.

"Huh?" White muttered. "Oh… okay? See ya, Alder." She hurried after him.

"Good luck!" Alder waved. He turned and continued down the road, smiling. "Ah, kids. Always in such a hurry."

* * *

"What was all that about?" White questioned the second they took a step onto Route 5.

"What was what about?" Black muttered.

"You looked like you had something on your mind. That and you just ran off," White pointed out.

"I just… think we need to hurry up and find Team Plasma. That's all."

_That's all? _There was definitely something he wasn't telling her. "Okay, spill the beans. You know something, and I'm guessing it's about Team Plasma."

Black was silent for a moment. "Well, how much do you already know?"

"That Team Plasma is back," White shrugged, a little helplessly. "I told you that Cheren doesn't tell me much. Especially when I'm not even in the same country."

"Then I guess you don't know what happened in Aspertia City a few days ago."

"Nope. Why, what happened?"

As if he wasn't sure whether it was a good idea to tell her or not, Black glanced away at the trees in the distance. "Team Plasma attacked Cheren outside of the gym. They killed his Stoutland."

"Oh, poor Stoutland!" White cried. "And Cheren… I knew something was upsetting him, but I didn't expect it to be something like this…"

"Apparently attacking a fainted Pokémon with a strong enough attack can kill it. And Alder said he hasn't seen as many wild Pokémon around lately too…"

"Wait… you're saying Team Plasma is going around killing off wild Pokémon?" White blinked in surprise. "What would be the point in that?"

"What's the point in everything Team Plasma does?" Black pointed out. "I don't know, power, satisfaction, whatever. But they've been training their Pokémon. They're much stronger than the ordinary wild Pokémon you find around here."

"Maybe they are responsible," White mumbled, disgusted at the very thought that Team Plasma were needlessly slaughtering wild Pokémon. "Before I stopped them, Ghetsis admitted that they were liberating Pokémon from people so that they'd be the only ones who still had them, and thus be the most powerful…"

"And if they kill all the Pokémon other than their own, I guess it's problem solved," Black finished grimly. "We have to stop them as soon as possible, or who knows what will happen."

"Right," White nodded. "Let's keep looking then."

They continued along Route 5, splitting up as they reached the path that veered off into the grass. Leaving Black to speak to the locals, White headed off into the trees. She tried to avoid walking through the long grass, being extra careful where she was putting her feet when she had to, keeping an eye out for anything suspicious. She was also painfully aware of the lack of wild Pokémon to be seen. It was strange to be walking around near the trees without any creatures there…

Eventually she spotted some eyes glinting from the shadows of the foliage. White halted for a moment, trying to see through the gloom.

It was a Liepard, watching her curiously.

"Hey there," White gave a friendly smile, crouching down so that she was on eye-level with the Pokémon.

The Liepard looked like it was about to come out of the shadows. Then suddenly it froze, its ears going flat against its head nervously.

"What's the matter?" White asked, knowing fully well it couldn't reply to her. After all her walks in the forest, talking to Pokémon had become a bit of a bad habit. Perhaps she'd been away from Unova for too long.

However, the Liepard didn't make any attempt to approach her. White felt a spark of anxiety, knowing that scared Pokémon would sometimes attack. Yet the Liepard just took a last glance at her before turning and speeding away through the trees. In a few seconds it was out of sight.

"Huh…" White muttered. Perhaps it was just a wary Pokémon. That wouldn't be unusual.

* * *

She met up with Black once more as she emerged back onto the main path. "Any clues?"

"Nobody's seen them," Black shook his head. "Maybe the lack of wild Pokémon isn't to do with Team Plasma after all. Either that or they're managing to stay hidden."

"Ah well," White shrugged. "We'll find them; they always turn up eventually. Let's head to Driftveil now, Clay always seems to know when something's going on."

"Okay," Black agreed evenly.

White led the way as they crossed the drawbridge. She watched the sky, hoping to see a Ducklett or two flying overhead, but the skies were clear. It had never really occurred to her before how empty the world seemed without Pokémon. Sure, she'd had to deal with Team Plasma liberating Pokémon in the past, but that hadn't affected the ones running wild.

A moment later she realised that the other footsteps had stopped. She glanced behind her. "Black?"

He'd frozen, looking at something in the distance. Completely ignoring her, he suddenly raced on ahead.

"What the—here we go again," White muttered. Then she noticed that there were some people at the other end of the bridge. Two of them were wearing strange black outfits she hadn't seen before, but the third person she recognised.

One of the Shadow Triad.

It was clear Black had recognised them too. The shadow appeared to say something to the other two people – probably Team Plasma, perhaps that was their new uniform or something – before vanishing into thin air. The other two nodded, taking one look at Black before running off.

"Get back here!" Black shouted.

Taking off at a run, White realised that she didn't have much choice but to follow them. It seemed that those two people were Team Plasma grunts. They'd sure changed a lot since she last saw them…

By the time she reached the far end of the bridge, Black was nowhere in sight. Not wanting to have to hunt them both down, White continued running until she came to the main part of the city.

Black was standing by the market, looking around. As she caught up to him he glanced back.

"I lost them," he sighed, sounding frustrated. "They can't have gone far though. My guess is they've gone to Route 6."

"Just… lemme get… my breath back…" White panted, resting her hands on her knees as she tried to recover from the mad chase. She really needed to get more exercise. It had been a long while since she'd had to run any distance. Taking a deep breath, she stood upright again. "Okay. Route 6 it is then. Let's go and find Team Plasma!"


	5. Suspicion

**I think Black and White finally seem to be getting their own personalities... sorta... which also has me wondering whether I have the character category on this thing right. Not sure if it should be Black and White or Nate and Hilda...**

**Anyways though, I'm updating this thing way too fast. But I always seem to be, like, three chapters ahead anyways... xD**

**I need to stop rejecting my other fanfics OTL**

* * *

Black was barely aware of what was actually going on around him as they passed through Route 6. He was too preoccupied with trying to spot anyone wearing a dark outfit. It hadn't even yet come to his attention that White had to practically run to keep up with him.

"Do you have to walk so fast?" she asked, sounding somewhat out of breath.

Finally snapping back to reality, Black slowed his pace. "Right. Sorry."

"I know you want to hurry and find Team Plasma, but we can't fight them if we're totally worn out," White pointed out evenly.

"I just want to catch them already, okay?" Black snapped.

White took a step back. "Okay, okay, no need to bite my head off."

"…Sorry," he muttered. "They stole my friend's Pokémon, I need to try and get it back for him… he'll only end up trying to find them himself otherwise."

"Ahh, I see," White nodded. "Now that's the Team Plasma I knew, stealing people's Pokémon. Don't worry, we'll find them soon enough."

"I hope so," Black sighed as they headed across one of the small bridges. He glanced up to see the rocky mountain ahead. "Hey, wait—!"

The two Team Plasma grunts were standing on the rise ahead, watching them. As soon as Black made the exclamation, they exchanged a glance, then turned and ran into the darkness of Chargestone Cave.

Black darted forwards, racing up the steps towards the cave entrance. This time they weren't getting away.

"Black, wait!"

Briefly considering ignoring her, he decided against it and skidded to a halt, glancing back. "What now?"

White followed more slowly, looking at the cave warily. "Doesn't this seem a little fishy to you?"

Black just blinked, not entirely sure what she was getting at. "It's a cave, not a pond…"

White rolled her eyes. "Not like that. But weren't those two just stood there waiting for us?"

"Yeah, so we'd better catch them before they get away again!"

"But they were _waiting_ for _us_!" White emphasised. "If you're trying to escape from someone you don't just wait around for them to catch you. This could be a trap."

He looked over at the entrance of the cave once more. It was impossible to see where Team Plasma had gone from here; his eyes wouldn't adjust to the darkness of the cave whilst they were out in broad daylight. What if this really was a trap?

Then again, what exactly would Team Plasma be able to do in the first place against a champion and hero…?

"Well, what do you suggest then, we just let them get away?" Black tutted.

"Of course not," White shrugged, walking past him and eyeing the tunnel. "We just don't blindly rush in there like idiots."

"Hey!" Black protested.

Ignoring his arrogant outburst, White stepped into the darkness of the cave. "You coming or what?"

* * *

Cheren shook the sand from his hair and clothes as they reached the tunnel at the end of Route 4. He'd never particularly liked the desert route that much, mainly due to the fact that there was always a sandstorm there. They'd only been there for twenty minutes and he looked a mess.

"Great," he sighed, using the billboard as a mirror as he tried to sort his hair out.

"Aw, don't worry, Cheren, you look fine!" Bianca assured him as she took off her hat, shaking the sand from it.

Cheren just huffed. He liked to always look as smart as possible and right now he felt like he'd been dragged through a hedge. Straightening his tie, he decided that this was probably the best he could do for now.

"Well, we've been all the way to Route 4 and trekked through a sandstorm with no sign of Team Plasma," he stated. "If Black and White headed through Route 5 then we might as well go to Route 16. Even if they don't call us then we're bound to meet up with them eventually."

"Good idea," Bianca agreed, putting her now-less-sandy hat back on.

Thankfully there wasn't a grain of sand in sight as they entered Nimbasa City. The sun lit up the colourful buildings and as usual the brightness of it all was almost overwhelming.

Cheren led the way down the main street as they headed for Route 16. As they walked past the Battle Subway he noticed some people standing outside. He did a double take as he realised who they were.

"Alder!?" he exclaimed.

"Hm?" the former champion glanced around. "Why, Cheren! What brings Aspertia's gym leader out here?"

"We're out looking for Team Plasma," Cheren shrugged, ever more regretting walking through the desert. Alder was here with Marshal, Grimsley and Shauntal from the Elite Four, and Cheren was constantly worrying about the impression he made on other people.

"Ah, I guess you're helping Black and White," Alder mused.

"Yeah. So why are you here, Alder?"

"Meeting up with the Elite Four, of course!" he smiled. "Since I retired to Floccesy town, I don't see these guys much."

"We're going on the subway if Caitlin ever shows up," Grimsley stated. He was sat on the stairs, in the shade of the building.

"Probably overslept again," Marshal muttered.

"Well, we need to keep looking for Team Plasma," Cheren told them. "The others are probably a long way ahead now."

"Good luck to you on the search," Alder waved. "If you find yourselves in any trouble, feel free to let us know."

* * *

As the two of them headed through Chargestone Cave, White noticed that there seemed to be a lot of wild Pokémon in here. Joltiks scuttled around on the cave walls and the occasional Klink floated past, grinding their gears as they noticed the two humans but deciding not to attack.

Walking over the electric floor made White nervous as usual, but she tried to push any thoughts of being electrocuted aside. Right now they had to focus on trying to work out where Team Plasma had gone – and why they seemed to be leading them in here.

She halted as a Deerling walked across their path. The second it noticed them it let out a high-pitched peep and dashed away to hide in the rocks.

"What's a Deerling doing in here?" White blinked.

"Don't ask me," Black shrugged. "I don't know how it can stand to be in this place."

White didn't reply. Deerling didn't usually live in caves like this, so it was definitely odd that there was one here. And not only that, but instead of attacking them, it had simply run off. It was almost as if the Pokémon had been scared of them. Yet there didn't seem to be any obvious reasons for that – Pokémon were never usually afraid of humans…

This was just like the Liepard that had run away from her earlier. Had something made these Pokémon scared of people? She couldn't think of anything that would have caused that.

Unless…

"Let's keep going," she said quietly, quickly shaking her head.

"… Okay…" Black muttered, casting a glance at the rocks where the Deerling was still hiding, watching them anxiously.

Chargestone Cave was just as much of a maze as it had been when she was last here. After a while spent trying to navigate the various paths, pushing the occasional floating rock out of the way, White found that every tunnel looked exactly the same to her. She hesitated, glancing around, trying to work out which was the right way.

"What's the matter?" Black asked, his voice echoing on the walls of the cave.

"Uhh… nothing," she said hurriedly, still trying to decide which path to take. She'd ended up getting lost in this cave two years ago, and she didn't fancy spending ages trying to find her way out again…

Black stood watching her for a moment before finally realising that she had no idea where they were. "Don't worry, I'll get us out of here," he assured, walking on ahead.

"But… I…" White started, trailing off. Then she sighed. "Thanks…" She really needed to get better at navigating caves.

She followed Black as he made his way through the seemingly endless cave. It was doubtful that he knew his way through here either, but at least he seemed to have a general idea of where he was going.

They were deep within the cave when she noticed some movement up ahead. It was the Team Plasma grunts again. Upon noticing the trainers, they headed up one of the stone stairways, out of sight.

"They're definitely trying to lead us somewhere," Black muttered.

"If they're leading us out of the cave, I'm quite happy to follow them," White joked – although there was an element of truth in her words.

Once they reached the top of the steps, Team Plasma had vanished. Yet White felt a rush of relief to see sunlight reflecting off the cave wall ahead.

"Finally!" she cheered.

White heard Black laugh quietly but decided to ignore him as she hurried back out into the daylight.

They'd reached Mistralton City at last. The sun was shining brightly, and there was a gentle breeze rustling past. It quickly turned into a fierce gale as a low-flying plain soared overhead, ready to land on the runway. White held onto her hat to stop it from getting blown away.

"Wow," Black gasped in awe as he watched the plane, his hair being buffeted madly by the tailwind it created.

"Looks like Skyla's just got back from a trip," White commented. "Maybe we should go ask her if she's seen anything strange going on."

"Hmm?" Black mumbled, still distracted. "Oh, right, sure."

Shaking her head slightly and smiling, White walked on ahead towards the airport, enjoying being out in the sunlight once more rather than stuck in the electrified cave.

"Hey, wait! Look there!" Black suddenly called.

"Huh?" White glanced back. Black was looking at something on the dusty ground a few metres away. She wandered back over to find out what it was.

Footprints.

"Whoever it was, they've been here recently," Black stated. "The breeze here would cover up any tracks before long. These are heading from the direction of the cave too, and they're certainly not ours."

"Team Plasma?" White asked, although she knew the answer already. She looked to the direction the footprints were heading; out into Route 7. "I guess they went that way."

"Then that's where we're heading too," Black decided.

"I see you're in charge now, Mr. Champion?"

"Well, you have any better ideas?" Black huffed.

"Hey, I was only joking. But yeah, let's follow them."

They followed the footprint trail out into Route 7, where the long grass was swaying in the breeze, leaves drifting past. Unfortunately now that they were further away from the cave the ground was more solid, and the trail soon vanished.

Ah well. At least there were only two places Team Plasma could have gone; they'd just have to take a wild guess unless those two grunts showed up again.

They weren't far into Route 7 when suddenly White froze.

"What's wrong?" Black asked.

"I don't know…" White muttered, taking Zekrom's Pokéball from her belt. It was shaking madly, as if the dragon was trying to get out. "Zekrom, what's the matter…?"

She let him out, noticing Black step back slightly as the giant Pokémon landed on the ground next to them. The second he was free, Zekrom looked towards the sky and let out a loud roar.

"Zekrom?" White blinked. What was up with him…?

To her surprise, there was an answering roar from somewhere nearby.

* * *

"The path splits ahead," Cheren recalled as they finally reached Route 16, away from the loudness of the city. "One way goes through the grass; the other is the main road. We'll have to split up to check the place out quickly."

"Okay then," Bianca nodded. "I'll check out the forest, you ask the trainers around here if they've seen anything."

"Wait, why do I—" he started to protest, but Bianca had already raced off. Cheren let out a sigh. "Great." He still wasn't looking his smartest and now he had to go around questioning everyone. This day was seriously starting to annoy him…

Reluctantly he headed off along the road. At least there weren't that many people here.

The first person he came across was a hiker strolling past.

"Excuse me," Cheren asked. "But have you seen anything strange around recently?"

"Eh? Strange?" the hiker blinked. "In what sense?"

"We're looking for Team Plasma," Cheren told him.

The hiker just scratched his head, confused. "Team Plasma? Nobody's seen them for months. I'm not sure what or who exactly you're looking for, kid, but sorry I can't be of much help."

"Thanks anyway," Cheren shrugged. _And don't call me a kid…_

He continued along the route, on the look out for more people. The only person in sight was a man on a motorbike.

"Excuse me…" he started, but the man ignored him, driving past. _How rude. Or perhaps he just didn't hear me._

A little way down the road, the motorcyclist turned and started to drive back again. Cheren had never learnt how to ride a bike and he still couldn't even begin to imagine what possessed people to simply go back and forth constantly. Perhaps it was one of those things you had to be a biker to understand.

"Pardon, I just want to ask—" he was completely ignored again as the motorcyclist drove past once more.

_Oh come on!_ The motorcyclist was driving back again. "Excuse me, but…" Ignored again.

Cheren was starting to run out of patience. "Hey!" he snapped. "I'm trying to ask you something here!"

At last the motorcyclist looked around, fixing him with an icy stare. "You talkin' to me, punk?"

_Ah geez…_ "Yes, I was. And I do not appreciate such manner of addressal," he retorted.

"Stop wasting my time, kid," the man growled, driving past him once more.

"But—fine." He probably wouldn't have been any help anyway. Probably best to just go and find someone else to ask…

Suddenly there was a high-pitched scream from somewhere off the main road.

Cheren froze. _That sounded like…_

The next moment, he was racing back towards the path that veered off into the woods.

"Bianca!"


	6. Harmonia

**Hey guys I made a cover~**

**Look who finally showed up with his social anxiety aw yeah.**

**Also it seems there may be two somewhat pairings in this story... it's always two for some reason... O_o**

**And as for what Black says in this... well, I swear there's at least 5 times over the span of both games when theoratically our character should have been killed. Imagine how many limbs would have been lost in the human transmutation to bring us back...**

* * *

White held up one arm to keep the sun from her eyes as she looked up at the sky. She wasn't entirely sure where the other roar had come from, but she had the feeling she wasn't imagining that it sounded familiar…

"What the heck is going on?" Black cried.

Not giving a reply, she continued to search the sky. The sound had echoed over the area so she couldn't tell where it had come from, but…

Suddenly a shadow fell over them, flying down lower towards the trees. It was far too swift to be another plane…

"Hey," Black started. "Isn't that—"

"Reshiram…" White murmured.

So that was who Zekrom had been calling to. The white dragon floated in a circle above them before soaring down towards the ground, feathers streaming behind her.

It was then that White noticed that there was someone on the dragon's back; even from here she could see green hair ruffled by the wind.

As soon as Reshiram landed, they jumped down.

"White!"

"Y-you're…" White gasped. She'd had the feeling that she'd be seeing a lot of familiar faces once she returned to Unova, but this was someone she definitely hadn't expected. "N…"

"It's been a long time," N smiled.

Nearby, Zekrom had gone over to stand in front of Reshiram. The darker dragon let out a growl, sounding more like a greeting than aggression. Reshiram gave a grunt of reply and the two dragons touched noses.

_Wow. I guess what Iris told me a while back is true… when they're not pit against each other, the dragon Pokémon are good friends._

"Ohh, I remember you," Black said eventually.

"Hm?" N blinked, as if he hadn't even noticed he was there. "You're… that trainer called Black, right? The one who saved Kyurem?"

"Yeah, and you're the guy that nearly burned me to death."

"H… hey! I saved you from getting impaled on shards of ice!"

"Eh, true. But I like my clothes to not be on fire, thanks…"

"Uhh, I have no idea what you two are talking about, but…" White interrupted, somewhat lost. "Ah… what brings you here, N?"

"Reshiram," N shrugged. "She told me that Zekrom was nearby, and I figured…"

Not really knowing how to reply, White glanced over at the fire dragon. Reshiram was watching her, blue eyes blinking slowly. Whether the Pokémon would recognise her, she didn't know.

"Also, there's something strange going on… I don't know what, but… the wild Pokémon are terrified of something," he added. "I've tried asking them, but they just ran away from me…"

"Don't worry; they're scared of us too," White shrugged.

"As far as we can tell, its Team Plasma's doing," Black mused. "We're not entirely sure what their plans are, but a couple of grunts seem to have led us out here for some reason."

"Team Plasma?" N froze. "If… if that's the case, I'll do what I can to help."

"We need to keep going," Black stated, glancing pointedly at White. "We need to find out where those grunts went."

"Okay," White nodded. "N, you coming with us?"

"Wait, who said he could join?"

"I did."

"Um… if that's okay," N replied with a half-hearted smile. "We're all fighting for the same reason this time."

* * *

"Bianca!" Cheren shouted as he raced through the grass. He was highly aware that anything could jump out at him here but surprisingly no wild Pokémon attacked him. It was almost as if there weren't any here…

It didn't take long for him to find Bianca. He'd half expected to see Team Plasma here as well, but there was nobody else around.

"Bianca?" he called. "What's the—oh…"

On a patch of short grass nearby, a wild Cinccino was lying on the ground, its long white fur splayed out around it. At first Cheren couldn't work out what was wrong with it, but then he realised that the Pokémon was completely still, its neck twisted at a weird angle…

"I-it's… dead…" Bianca said quietly, glancing back at him. She was crying.

"This must be Team Plasma's doing," Cheren muttered. "Wild Pokémon don't kill each other."

"But… how could they!?" Bianca cried, sobbing. "Why would they do this…?"

Not really sure what to do, Cheren rested a hand on her shoulder. "I don't know. But this probably explains why there aren't many wild Pokémon around. Team Plasma must have scared them off."

"It's not fair!" she wailed, hugging him.

"Bianca—!" Cheren protested. He was about to snap at her to stop hugging him but decided against it. She was upset enough as it was. At first he hadn't understood why, but then he remembered that Professor Juniper had a Minccino that wandered freely around the lab, and being the professor's assistant Bianca probably spent a lot of time there…

He let out a long sigh. "It'll be okay," he assured, gently prying her from him. "We'll find Team Plasma and defeat them."

Bianca stepped back, wiping her eyes. "You're sure we can defeat them…?"

"Of course," Cheren nodded, though he was trying to convince himself as well. After what had happened to Stoutland…

_No. Now isn't the time to think about that._

Taking a neatly-folded tissue from his pocket, he held it out to her. "Here. We can't face Team Plasma if you're crying your eyes out."

Taking the tissue, Bianca gave a half-hearted smile. "Thanks."

* * *

White had always liked the raised walkways in Route 7. They were fun to walk along and it was a lot easier to see where she was going than by walking through the tall grass. There was also the sweet smell of greenery drifting on the breeze.

She'd returned Zekrom to his Pokéball, but Reshiram was still flying around in the sky above. To be honest, White wasn't really surprised. N did seem to have changed since she last saw him but he obviously still wasn't keen on keeping Pokémon confined inside Pokéballs.

"N, you were king of Team Plasma. Any idea where they might be hiding?" she asked at last.

"That was two years ago…" N said wryly. He was paying close attention to the wooden beam they were walking along, arms out as he made sure to keep his balance. "I don't know where they'd be now."

"Hmm…" White muttered, pausing to look around thoughtfully. "Well, they've either gone to Celestial Tower or headed for Twist Mountain…"

"Erm, guys… can we not stop on the thin platform…?" Black asked anxiously, although his comment went unnoticed.

"I don't suppose there is much at the tower though, so…"

"Guys…!"

"I mean, those two grunts might show up again if they're trying to lead us somewhere…"

"Guys!" Black shouted. "Can we just keep—aah!"

White glanced back in time to see Black losing his balance, falling sideways and disappearing into the tall grass below.

"Black!" she gasped.

For a moment, there was silence.

"I'm okay…! Just keep going… I'll try and find my way out…"

White stared at the place where he'd disappeared for a moment longer. Then she glanced at N and shrugged. "He's okay."

It didn't take long for her to reach the end of the walkway, hopping back down to the ground. If her hunch was right and Team Plasma was heading for Twist Mountain, they'd have to turn right up ahead. Then again, if she was wrong and they really had gone to Celestial Tower…

Suddenly there was a shrieking noise from somewhere nearby, and Black came racing out of the grass, a wild Zebstrika charging after him. As soon as it was out of the foliage the Pokémon skidded to a halt, snorting.

"I didn't do anything, sheesh," Black huffed, out of breath. "Whoa!" He jumped back as a ball of electricity flew to the ground in front of him.

The Zebstrika snorted again, turning away pointedly and trotting back into the grass.

"He said to watch where you're walking in future," N stated.

Black just huffed. "I'm surprised there's any wild Pokémon around in the first place with that thing flying around." He pointed to Reshiram.

The white dragon let out a low growl, hovering a few metres above them.

Black just stared at her for a moment, blinking. Then he glanced over at them again. "N, tell me what the Pokémon said."

"Um…" N glanced away awkwardly. "I would but… it's something I was taught not to say…"

White just burst out laughing.

"Well, I see that Reshiram doesn't like me either," Black sighed melodramatically.

Clearing her throat to regain her composure and fail to hide the fact that she'd been laughing, White decided to speak up at last. "Well, Black, what do you think? Left or right?"

"Hm?" Black glanced around at last. "Well, why would Team Plasma go to Celestial Tower? Unless they're going ghost hunting, they've probably headed to Twist Mountain."

"Right," White nodded.

"Yeah, that's the point," Black joked. "Right."

White rolled her eyes. "You know what I mean."

* * *

They headed along the path towards Twist Mountain. This time, White let Black go first when they crossed another raised walkway, and any time it looked like he was about to fall off again she'd grab his arm to pull him back. White had no trouble walking on the beams; she'd had plenty of practice walking along fallen logs in the forest when she brought her Pokémon out there.

Once they'd got over the last walkway, Black looked faintly relieved. He was probably slightly humiliated by having his weakness shoved in his face. At least White didn't feel so bad about nearly getting them lost in Chargestone Cave now…

It wasn't long before Reshiram let out a growl from the sky above. Glancing around quickly to try and spot what the matter was, White noticed the two Team Plasma grunts up ahead once more. As per usual, as soon as they spotted them they raced away.

"Hey! Get back!" Black shouted, running after them.

"Black!" White called, but this time she was ignored. "And he's off again…" She quickened her pace slightly, knowing they needed to keep up with Black but also that the grunts would have probably disappeared into thin air by the time they found him.

"Are they the ones you followed out here?" N asked.

"Yeah. Why, you know them?"

"No… I was just wondering…"

"Oh, okay then," White shrugged. She was seriously starting to get irritated by those grunts. She couldn't work out why they'd be trying to lead them somewhere unless it was some kind of trap – and thinking about what kind of trap it might be was starting to make her go paranoid.

"White… can I… ask you something…?"

"Huh?" she halted, turning back to face him. "What?"

"Well…" he started, deliberately avoiding eye contact. "After you defeated Ghetsis… where did you go…?"

White blinked, not entirely sure why he was asking. "Things got kinda crazy around here, so I left Unova for a while. Well, for two years actually. I just came back because Cheren told me they needed help with Team Plasma." She paused for a moment. "Why?"

"No… no reason…" N said quietly.

"Huh…" she muttered, still confused. "Well, that's okay, I guess."

She didn't get the chance to say anything more.

"Drapion, use Earthquake!"

White narrowly avoided losing her balance as the ground shook violently beneath her. "What the heck!?" Was there a Pokémon battle going on near here? Or had Black been ambushed by Team Plasma…?

Once she finally managed to regain her balance, White noticed that despite the tremor, N had frozen, a look of somewhat horror in his eyes. Without a word he raced away in the direction Black and Team Plasma had headed.

"N!" White shouted, only to be ignored once again. She let out a long sigh. Now it looked like she had no choice but to try and catch up with everyone.

She ran along the path, slowed slightly by the fact that the ground was still trembling. White couldn't see anything over the trees, but as soon as she turned the corner she could see Twist Mountain looming up ahead. From here it was hard to tell what was going on, but she could see Black standing at the base of the mountain – and she was just in time to witness his Lucario faint.

"Lucario, get back!" Black said quickly, holding out a Pokéball. Lucario vanished from sight just moments before a Bisharp landed on the ground where the fainted Pokémon had just been, slicing the ground.

_What's going on!?_

The Bisharp glanced up, looking at Black. He hadn't yet had the chance to send out another Pokémon.

"Reshiram, Fusion Flare!"

The dragon left out a fierce roar from the sky, and a moment later a massive fireball flew to the ground, hitting the Bisharp and causing it to instantly faint. Black hurriedly stepped back, holding one arm up to protect himself from the blast.

"Hey, I can defend myself without you trying to kill me!" he snapped, turning to glare at N.

"Black, what's happening?" White asked as she finally caught up to them, out of breath once more. Why did everyone else have to run so fast…?

"It's not me you need to ask," Black muttered, glancing up at the mountain.

"Well, well, look who it is. Unova's 'champion' and self-proclaimed hero. And I see that foolish child is with you too."

_That voice…_

Hurriedly White glanced up at the mountain paths above. There he was. She'd never know what had happened to that man, but now he was standing there, the Shadow Triad at his side. The Team Plasma grunts were nowhere in sight.

White had hoped he was gone for good, but apparently not. She couldn't help but clench her fist in frustration.

"Ghetsis."


	7. Important Choices

**So, the big plan is revealed. As if it wasn't obvious enough already. Perhaps.**

**I have no more words for you, chapter.**

* * *

Instinctively, White reached for Emboar's Pokéball. They were outnumbered but she was prepared to fight if she had to. The Drapion was watching them from one of the ledges up the mountainside, and one of the shadows returned the fainted Bisharp to its Pokéball.

"This is why those grunts led us here, wasn't it?" White said eventually.

"If that's how you wish to put it, yes," Ghetsis replied simply. "Although it was your own choice to follow them."

White just narrowed her eyes. Ghetsis looked a lot different than when they'd battled two years ago. Now he wore a long black cloak instead of the bright blue and gold one he'd worn before, and the patch over his right eye was different as well.

"If it's a fight you're after, you can have one!" Black snapped. "But prepare to be beaten again!"

"It would be better for the health of your Pokémon if you would hear us out first," Ghetsis continued, a threatening edge to his voice.

"Why should we?"

"Black," White said hastily. "Let's at least find out what they're doing. We can still beat them afterwards."

Black hesitated for a moment, as if he was about to disagree. Then he huffed. "Fine."

"Very good." The slightest smirk appeared on Ghetsis's face. "In all honesty we didn't need you here, but feel free to listen anyway. A speech is always more interesting when more people hear it."

"Whatever. If you've got something to say then spit it out, old man!"

Ghetsis actually looked slightly offended by that remark, but he didn't appear to let it get to him. "As you wish. You three are here because I insist that you hand over the legendary dragon Pokémon and grant protection to Team Plasma. As the Pokémon champion and the 'hero' I doubt that would be much trouble."

"What!?" White cried in disbelief.

"You expect us to do _that!_? How stupid do you think we are?" Black scoffed.

"Assumingly that was a rhetorical question," Ghetsis muttered. "But no, of course I didn't expect you to simply give up your Pokémon so easily. That is why there is a second option. If you refuse to give us Zekrom and Reshiram, Team Plasma will undertake the massacre of all Pokémon in the Unova region."

His words were met with a stunned silence.

"That's crazy…" White gasped. "Team Plasma can't honestly be willing to do that!"

"With no Pokémon left other than our own, Team Plasma will be stronger than anyone else in the country. It's simply a matter of power."

"It's a matter of being sick out of your minds!" Black cried. He took a Pokéball from his belt. "Arcanine, get out here!"

The striped dog Pokémon appeared in front of him, growling at the cliffs above.

"Well, I've stated your options," Ghetsis finished. "The rest is up to you."

"Arcanine, use Flamethrower!"

Arcanine let out a loud roar, releasing a stream of flames from its mouth. The fire cut through the air, smashing into the rocks at the side of the cliff. The impact caused a dust cloud to form, a couple of stones rolling down the steep slope to the ground.

Once the dust cloud dispersed, Ghetsis and the Shadow Triad had already vanished.

"Damn…" Black sighed. Arcanine hung her head, glancing up at him and letting out a whine. "It's okay, Arcanine, it's not your fault they got away."

White was still speechless as she stared at the empty mountainside. She shook her head quickly, trying to snap out of her shock.

"I guess that explains what their plans are, at least," she said grimly.

Hearing a sound behind her, she glanced back to see N fall to his knees. Thanks to the visor of his cap, she couldn't see his face.

"N?" she questioned. It was only just occurring to her that he hadn't said a word the whole time Ghetsis had been there. She didn't blame him.

"I-I don't… know… what am I supposed to do…?" he choked.

White and Black exchanged a glance. He shrugged, as if to say he didn't want to intervene and make things worse. Black didn't seem to know N that well, even if they clearly had met before, so perhaps that was for the best.

"N, it's okay…" White assured, walking over to him.

"No, it's not okay!" he cried, looking up at her at last. Tears were streaming down his face. "I can't let them have Reshiram! They nearly killed Kyurem when they were trying to use its power! But if I don't give her to them, then… then…!" he broke off with a strangled sob, covering his face with his hands.

White let out a sympathetic sigh. "Don't worry; I don't plan on giving up Zekrom either."

"But… i-if we don't…"

"That's why we have to stop them going through with their twisted massacre plan!" she stated confidently. "Right, Black?"

He nodded. "Right. We've beaten them before and we can beat them again."

For a moment N stared at the ground. Then at last he stood up. "Well… if you're sure… then we can save all the Pokémon, right…?"

"Definitely," White stated. After all, it was only Team Plasma. Both she and Black had defeated them before on their own; together and with N's help it would be even easier. "We just have to find them first…"

"Ghetsis will probably send someone out to find us soon, right?" Black mused. "He didn't ask us to make a decision right then and there."

"But would _he_ go?" White asked. "I mean, if he expects us to just hand over a Pokéball or something…"

"Right. And that would involve waiting around anyways," Black shrugged, grinning. "But those Team Plasma grunts have still gotta be around here somewhere, right? They'll know where Team Plasma's base is. I say we make them tell us."

"Violent," White commented. She gave a shrug. "But that sounds like a plan."

"Well, there's only one place they could have gone without us seeing them," Black pointed out, glancing up at the mountain. "Now we just gotta work out how to catch up to them."

"There's an open space in the middle of the mountain, right?" N spoke up. "Me and Reshiram could fly over there and head them off."

"First helpful thing you've said since you arrived," Black joked.

"Hey!"

"Guess that leaves us to flush them out of the cave then. C'mon, White, let's go."

"Um, wait…" White hesitated, looking up at the dark opening of the cave.

"What?" Black asked impatiently.

"Erm… aha… y'know, maybe I'll go on ahead instead… okay guys…?" she smiled nervously. She didn't want a repeat of the incident at Chargestone Cave and besides, they didn't have time to waste getting lost.

"O…kay… I guess that works too…" Black blinked. He looked up at Reshiram, who was still flying above. She'd witnessed the whole scene and now looked like she was raring to go and defeat Team Plasma. "But N, you've gotta put that thing in a Pokéball, seriously."

"No way!" N protested.

"Then explain to me how a ten-foot dragon fits into a small tunnel in the side of a mountain."

"He's got a point," White said evenly.

N just huffed, glaring at them. Then he glanced towards the sky. "Reshiram!"

Upon hearing her name, the white dragon soared down towards the earth, slowing as she got close to the ground. The floor shook as she landed. N walked over, taking a Pokéball from his pocket.

"Sorry, Reshiram… I promise I'll release you as soon as we're back outside, okay?"

Reshiram let out a quiet growl, turning her head away. Even so, she vanished inside the Pokéball.

"Okay then, let's go," Black decided, heading over to the mountain path with his Pokémon following close behind. "Arcanine, we need to get through this cave quickly to catch up with Team Plasma, so if anything attacks us in there just burn it, okay?"

Arcanine nodded with a bark.

"Hey, wait!" N cried, racing after him, looking slightly horrified.

"I can see this will go well," White muttered to herself. She took a Pokéball from her belt. "Come on, Zekrom, let's go. We need to get to the middle of Twist Mountain before Team Plasma does."

Zekrom appeared on the ground next to her, watching Black, N and Arcanine vanishing into the caves of Twist Mountain. As soon as White climbed onto his back, they took off into the sky.

* * *

Now Black understood why White hadn't wanted to go through Twist Mountain. There was hardly any light in here and, like the name suggested, a lot of twisting tunnels. Given how nervous she'd looked in Chargestone Cave, perhaps it was for the best that she'd gone on ahead.

Although, that now meant that he was stuck with N.

"You don't really intend to burn everything in here, right?" he checked, sounding concerned.

"I said anything that _attacks_ us," Black repeated. "We have to get through here quickly and catch up with Team Plasma. It's not our fault if any wild Pokémon jump out at us."

"Then let me go first; they won't attack me," N suggested, trying to get past the giant ball of fluff half-blocking the tunnel. "Excuse me, Arcanine…"

Arcanine stepped aside slightly, pushing him past with her nose.

"Thanks."

"Fine then," Black rolled his eyes. "Just don't get us lost."

The tunnel eventually opened out ahead. Arcanine looked somewhat relieved as she shook the grit from her fur. There were various tunnels around the cave that all probably lead to different places.

_Which way did Team Plasma go?_

N was looking around, as if he were trying to work that out too.

Suddenly Black felt Arcanine nudge his arm.

"Huh? What's wrong?"

The large dog let out a quiet _woof_, nudging him again and glancing over at the other side of the cave. At first Black couldn't tell what he was supposed to be looking for. Then he noticed some eyes shining in the darkness from near a pile of rocks. Two small blue ears were visible amongst the boulders.

"Oh hey, a Cubchoo!"

"Huh?" N glanced around. "Oh!" He walked over to the rocks. "Hey there."

The wild Cubchoo shrank back as it saw him walk over, letting out a quiet whimper.

"It's okay," N smiled, crouching down so he was eye-level with the Pokémon. "I won't hurt you."

"N, we don't have time to make conversations with the Pokémon," Black rolled his eyes.

The Cubchoo glanced over at Black and Arcanine. Upon seeing the fire Pokémon it looked even more terrified.

"Arcanine won't hurt you either," N said quietly. "Black can be a bit of a jerk but I'm sure he won't set his Pokémon on you."

"I can hear you, ya know," Black tutted. N ignored him.

Casting another suspicious glance over at them, the Cubchoo finally climbed up onto the rocks. It sniffed loudly, blinking up at N.

"We're looking for some people who came through here not long ago," he told the Cubchoo. "Have you seen them?"

_Oh, I see._ Perhaps having N with them wasn't so pointless after all.

The Cubchoo nodded, letting out a high-pitched cub growling noise.

"Yeah, they're the ones we're looking for. Can you show us where they went?"

Hopping down from the rocks, the Cubchoo waved its paw, as if it were telling them to follow it. It sniffed again before trotting off along one of the tunnels.

N glanced over at Black. "Well, you said we needed to find them quickly."

"I didn't say anything," Black shrugged, holding his hands up in mock defence.

They followed the Cubchoo through the cave. Black had his doubts at first, but the Pokémon seemed to know where it was going. He was also aware of how the Cubchoo was staying as far away from him and Arcanine as possible whilst still remaining in sight. Briefly he considered whether he should put Arcanine back inside her Pokéball, but it was freezing here in Twist Mountain and the fire Pokémon was keeping him warm…

Suddenly there was a loud roar from somewhere nearby. The sound echoed around the caves, causing loose stones to rattle on the ground. Immediately the Cubchoo let out a yelp and ran to hide behind N.

"Sounds like White found them," Black pointed out.

N glanced down at the Cubchoo clinging to his leg. "Don't worry, it's just Zekrom. We can find the way from here; you should stay where it's safe."

The small Pokémon glanced up at him with round eyes. Then it nodded, giving a quick wave before racing away into the tunnels.

"Come on, then, let's go!" Black persisted. "We can't leave White to face Team Plasma on her own."


	8. Infiltration

**Let's just pretend that Deinos are really small... mk... (maybe it's a baby Deino)**

**They're damn cute though.**

**Also, we're starting to see more of White and Black's Pokémon! Yay! Their teams are roughly based on mine (other than one of Black's Pokémon) so that I know how they'd fight, but y'know. Might not be perfect teams but they've covered many a battle together xD The real super power of teamwork!**

**... *ahem***

* * *

"Emboar, let's go!"

Light split out from the Pokéball, and Emboar landed heavily on the ground nearby, snorting.

"Why are we wasting our time here?" one of the Team Plasma grunts asked the other.

"Let's just defeat this brat and get away from here!" the second one snapped. "Now send out your Pokémon already!"

"Okay, okay," the first grunt tutted, holding out a Pokéball. "Deino!"

The tiny dragon Pokémon appeared on the ground, trying to look around although its eyes were covered by fur. The second grunt had already sent out a Scrafty, who at the moment was trying to pull up the moulted skin which had fallen down past its legs like baggy trousers.

_Too easy,_ White thought to herself. Even though it wasn't yet winter, it was freezing out here on the mountain. Her breath fogged up and she could feel herself shivering, but that didn't mean that she was going to let Team Plasma get away.

She just hoped that the battle would last long enough that Black and N would be able to get here in time.

_Well, first things first._ "Zekrom, use Dragon Pulse on Deino!"

Zekrom let out an ear-splitting roar, sending a wave of energy towards the Deino. It let out a yelp as it was blasted backwards, landing on the ground with a thud.

To White's disbelief, a moment later it climbed unsteadily back to its feet. It had definitely been weakened, but how on earth could a little Deino stand up to an attack that powerful?

No time to think about that now. "Emboar, use Arm Thrust on Scrafty!"

Emboar nodded, letting out a growl as he charged towards Scrafty. The smaller Pokémon tried to dodge the attack but it wasn't fast enough. After getting hit five times simultaneously, the Scrafty fainted.

"Nice one," White praised Emboar as he returned to her side. He glanced back at her, looking proud.

"Deino, use Dragon Tail on Zekrom!"

The tiny dragon jumped towards Zekrom, lashing out. The legendary Pokémon gave a snarl as he was hit with an attack that seemed strangely powerful for such a small creature, and a moment later he vanished inside his Pokéball. The move caused Zebstrika to be dragged out in his place; the zebra gave a shriek as she appeared, followed by an irritated snort. Obviously she hadn't expected to be sent out into the fight.

The Team Plasma grunt returned Scrafty to it's Pokéball with narrowed eyes. "It seems her Pokémon are stronger than we thought."

White smirked. She didn't usually have much of an ego, but at times like this she couldn't help it. "That's what you get for having a Pokémon battle with a hero of Unova!"

"Hey! Don't hog all the glory for yourself, White!"

She glanced around to see Black racing towards them, Arcanine following close behind. Within three seconds of being out in the open air again, N released Reshiram from her Pokéball.

"Great, they've got company," one of the grunts muttered. "Quick, let's just get out of here."

"Not so fast!" Black snapped. "Arcanine, stop them!"

The fire dog growled, jumping forward and landing in front of the grunts, forcing them to stay where they were. One of them glanced around for another escape.

"Go, Samurott!" Black called, sending out the water Pokémon as well. Now they had the grunts surrounded.

"What's the big idea?" the first one huffed. "You can't trap us here like this!"

"Speak for yourselves," N said meaningfully as he walked over to join them. "What about all the Pokémon you've trapped and forced to fight for you?"

The Deino was still charging around, not able to see what was going on but from the voices it could tell that something was happening. N stepped forward, picking up the wayward Pokémon, although it didn't stop trying to thrash around violently.

"Oh, that's rich," the first grunt tutted. "That coming from Team Plasma's king who betrayed us! Ghetsis was right; you really do have no idea what you're going on about."

For a moment N didn't reply. His expression was hard to read but White could still see the hurt in his eyes – which was made slightly worse as the Deino sank its teeth into his arm, drawing blood.

"I know that I made a mistake, and I'm trying to fix that. Now Team Plasma is just making the same mistake over again without doing anything about it. An equation can only be solved if it's worked out correctly."

"The only mistake Team Plasma made was accepting you as its leader," the grunt snarled. "We would have succeeded last time if it wasn't for that brat," he glared at Black. "And this time there's no way that even the three of you can beat us!"

This time N didn't reply, looking away at the frost-covered ground. In his distraction the Deino managed to escape from his grip, running back over to the second Team Plasma grunt, crashing into his leg as it couldn't see where it was going. The grunt returned Deino to its Pokéball.

"Don't count on it," Black said confidently. "But it'll save a lot of work if you just tell us where Team Plasma's base is."

"Humph. We don't have to tell you anything," the grunt huffed.

"Samurott, use Surf."

Giving a quiet growl, Samurott unleashed a large wave of water that came crashing down on top of the two grunts, knocking one of them over. Both Arcanine and Emboar stepped back slightly.

"Just tell us where the base is!" Black snapped.

White flinched. Not only from the fact that getting soaked out here would be horrible considering how freezing it was, but Black's voice sounded just as cold as the temperature…

"O-okay! Okay!" the other grunt cried. He'd collapsed under the weight of the water and was now sat there shivering in the cold. "It's in a warehouse in Castelia City, just let us go!"

"Thank you," White said. That wasn't much to go on but it was better than nothing – and besides, even if these two men were from Team Plasma, White wasn't particularly keen on watching them getting beaten up by Black's hatred for them. "You can go now."

"Wait."

"Black?" White blinked.

The young trainer fixed the standing grunt with a hard stare. "I recognise you. You're one of the guys who attacked Hugh in Aspertia and stole his Serperior."

The grunt held his hands up in defence – probably slightly worried that Black might set one of his Pokémon on him again. "Okay, I'll give back the Pokémon. You have to let us leave, though."

"Fine then."

As the grunt threw a Pokéball to Black, White stepped aside so that the two Team Plasma members could get past. They hurried away, back into the tunnels of Twist Mountain and out of sight.

"Well, that was certainly eventful," she commented. "Wasn't that a bit harsh though?"

"Hmm?" Black looked up at her. "Oh… well, maybe." He ran a hand through his hair, embarrassed. "But at least we got the information out of them. Warehouse in Castelia. The place is mostly skyscrapers, so it shouldn't be too hard to find."

"Right," White smiled, just relieved that he no longer had the cold look in his eyes.

"And besides, I got Serperior back. Hugh will be relieved when he finds out," Black added. He put the Pokéball in his bag to keep it safe.

As Black went to put Samurott and Arcanine back into their Pokéballs, White glanced over at N. He was still staring at the ground.

"N? Are you okay?"

"Huh…?" he glanced up at last. "Oh… did they get away…?"

"They told us where Team Plasma's base was so we let them leave," White shrugged. "Are you okay, though?"

"Yeah, why…?"

"Your arm's bleeding."

N cast a quick glance at the blood dripping down his hand. "It's nothing."

"Well, if you say so…" White muttered.

"What are we standing around here for?" Black spoke up at last. "We know where Team Plasma's base is and I'm freezing. I say we make our way back to Castelia."

"Yeah, okay," White nodded, taking Zekrom's Pokéball from her belt. "Want a lift?"

Black gave her a wry look. "No thanks. I think I'll just fly on Braviary this time."

* * *

Safe on his own Pokémon's back, Black felt a lot less anxious flying over Unova than when he'd been with White and Zekrom earlier. It was nice to feel the wind in his hair without the fear of falling and breaking his neck…

He'd stopped off at Mistralton City first to heal his Pokémon, but it hadn't taken him long to catch up to White and N. Braviary could fly faster than Zekrom and Reshiram, it seemed – either that or they were just waiting for him to catch up.

They were flying over Nimbasa City when Black's Xtransciever started ringing.

"Oh, great…" he muttered. _This could be difficult…_ "Braviary, no sudden moves, okay?"

Braviary glanced up at him briefly, letting out a cawing noise.

"Here goes…" Black had to try and balance on the bird's back without using his arms as he quickly tried to press the button on the Xtransciever he had on his wrist. The second he'd answered the call he clung back onto Braviary's feathers with his free hand. "Hello?"

"Black? Okay good, you're there."

"What's the matter, Cheren?" Black asked once the static on the screen vanished. "Did you find something?"

"We found a dead Pokémon; that's it," Cheren stated. "We think Team Plasma might have killed it, but we're not certain. Where are you?"

Black cast a quick glance around, partially to make sure that N hadn't overheard what Cheren had said about the dead Pokémon, knowing how he might react. "We're just heading back over Nimbasa City, what about you guys?"

"Opelucid City," Cheren shrugged. "I tried calling White but I don't think she has her Xtransciever with her. Have you seen Team Plasma?"

"_Seen_ them? Heck, we've been _threatened_ by them," Black muttered.

"What!? What happened?"

"Long story short, we saw Ghetsis and he said to hand over Zekrom and Reshiram or else they'd kill all the Pokémon in Unova. I think he's gone nuts."

"He just asked for the legendary Pokémon? Not anything else?"

"Well, he said something about granting protection for Team Plasma."

Cheren was silent for a moment, as if he was thinking. "I think I know what they're trying to do here…"

"What? Really?" Black exclaimed in surprise.

"Team Plasma – Ghetsis especially – have always been after power. And Zekrom and Reshiram are the protectors of Unova, right? So if they have the legendary dragon Pokémon…"

"Then they can do whatever they want," Black finished, realising what he was getting at. "Well, we're not going to let that happen. We managed to find out where their base is, so right now we're heading over there so Team Plasma can know what a big mistake they made trying to threaten us!"

"Don't do anything too reckless," Cheren warned. He was probably thinking about the fight against those grunts from a few days ago. "Where's the base? You might need some help."

"All we know is it's a warehouse in Castelia. It shouldn't be too hard to find."

"Castelia City?" Cheren groaned. "Great… well, we'll try and get there as soon as possible."

"Hah. By the time you guys get here, Team Plasma will already be on their knees," Black grinned confidently.

"Just don't underestimate them," Cheren said simply. Then the screen went blank as the call ended.

Black just smiled. "Cheren's worrying too much as usual, eh Braviary?"

* * *

Castelia City was a large place, with many different streets full of massive skyscrapers. At first White had been worried that it might be difficult to find Team Plasma's base amongst all this, but she soon realised that there was only one place in this crowded city where a warehouse would be.

White led the way down the narrow alleyway to the west of the city. It was the sort of place she'd expect a villainous gang to hide out, the path strewn with old rotting crates and rainwater dripping down the walls from broken gutters. Almost foreboding.

"You'd think someone would at least clean this place up once in a while," Black muttered as he glanced around at the decrepit buildings.

"Nobody goes here, so I guess they decided there isn't much point," White commented, stepping over a fallen plank of wood.

Behind them, Reshiram let out a grunt as a drop of water landed on her nose. White was surprised that the dragon could even fit down this alley in the first place. N had stated to them earlier that he was only going to put Reshiram in her Pokéball when he really needed to. It was doubtful that Reshiram would be able to easily get through the doors in a warehouse, but considering the frustrated glares the dragon was giving every time water or mould brushed against her white feathers, she probably wouldn't mind being inside a Pokéball for once…

"Oh hey, look here!" Black said at last, running on ahead slightly. A few moments later he stopped, next to a large rolling door. "This looks like the entrance to a warehouse, right?"

"I should think so," White shrugged. "N, sorry to tell you but I think Reshiram will have to go in her Pokéball for a while."

"But—fine…" N muttered.

This time, Reshiram looked somewhat relieved as she vanished into the Pokéball. It was probably better in there than in this dank alleyway…

"Now the only question is, how do we get in?" White pointed out.

"Hmm…" Black muttered thoughtfully. He took a Pokéball from his belt. "This shouldn't be too hard. C'mon, Lucario."

Light streamed from the ball, and a second later Lucario appeared next to them. He glanced questioningly up at Black.

"Lucario, you can get this door open, right?" Black asked, experimentally trying to push it up but only managing to move the blind-like door a few centimetres.

Lucario nodded, running over to help. The Pokémon grabbed the base of the door from the gap Black had created, pulling it up. The door made a loud clattering sound as it was opened, echoing around the inside of the building, and White had a feeling it wouldn't be long before they attracted some attention. At least there didn't seem to be too many people around right now.

Once the door was about a metre and a half open, Lucario couldn't reach any further. He jumped slightly, trying to push it up further, but it began to slide back down again. Instead, the Pokémon just held it open.

"Well, mind your heads," Black said evenly, ducking under the sliding door.

N cast a nervous glance at White. She just shrugged. "Let's hope there aren't too many grunts around inside."

White easily made it under the door. It was more difficult for N since he was quite tall, but eventually they were all inside.

"Nice one, Lucario!" Black praised. "High five!"

Lucario pushed the door up slightly, hopping away and making sure it didn't hit his tail as it fell back down to the ground, clanging shut. Black held out his hand and Lucario jumped up to give him a high-five.

"Well, we're in," White stated, glancing around. It was quite dark in here now that the door was closed, but she could see a light flickering from a room nearby. "Now we just have to defeat Team Plasma."


	9. Lost Ideals

**Welcome to what has come to be known as the stupidly long chapter. Compared to the rest of them, at least... I would have split it if I could find a suitable place to do so but I couldn't, so... yeah. It's still stupidly long.**

**Also, changed the set characters for this so it's now Hilda and Nate so people don't get confused, especially as to who Black is...**

**Hmm, we see a lot of Black and White's Pokémon teams in this chapter. We'll see the whole of them in a few chapters time~**

**One more thing: considering I just seem to be saving up loads of chapters here, and because I don't want to spam everybody, I'm considering just uploading one chapter a week. Probably on a Friday or Saturday or something. Yeah. Anyways, carry on...**

* * *

"Whoa…!" Black gasped as they walked through the doorway to the next room.

Stretching out ahead of them was a massive room, at least a hundred metres wide and the ceiling ten metres above. There were a couple of tall shelves around the room, with boxes probably left over from when the place had been abandoned.

"Plenty of places to hide in here," White muttered, glancing around at the shelves.

"Well, I doubt highly that Ghetsis will be hanging out in a place like this," Black pointed out. "He'll probably be somewhere further inside if he's even here in the first place."

"Good point," White said evenly. "Let's hope this place isn't too much of a maze…"

"Ah, I'm sure we'll find them eventually," Black shrugged.

Just then he felt something nudge his arm. He glanced around. "Lucario? What's up?"

The Pokémon stepped back slightly, pointing towards the far side of the room.

Blacked followed where he was pointing but couldn't see anything. "Uhh… what am I supposed to be looking for…?"

Lucario let out a growling sound, stepping forward, staring at a doorway on the other side of the room.

"Is there something there?"

"He can sense Team Plasma," N explained. "Lucario is an aura Pokémon; he can tell where they are because of that."

Lucario glanced over at him, nodding.

"Ohh," Black realised at last. "Okay then. Well, lead the way, Lucario!"

Looking somewhat proud, Lucario gave another nod before racing away across the room. Black ran after him.

"Oh great," White sighed. "More running."

* * *

Through the door at the end of the room was a winding corridor, with many rooms off to the side. White was pretty certain that there were Team Plasma grunts in at least some of them – Lucario kept pausing outside the doors, dismissing them once he realised that they were only grunts.

Eventually the corridor came to a flight of stairs. Once they reached the top, Lucario jumped up onto a railing, glancing around. As soon as he reached the rail, Black skidded to a halt.

"Oh wow…"

"What?" White blinked, walking over to the railing and glancing over. "Oh, okay, that's a long way down…"

There was a three metre drop to get down to the main part of the room below. This room wasn't nearly as massive as the one they'd been in before, but there was no obvious way to get down to the ground other than another door off to the right of the platform, which would probably require going through another maze of corridors…

"What're we waiting around here for?" N asked. He hopped up onto the rail, jumping down.

"N!" White gasped.

He landed on the ground below, taking a moment to regain his balance before glancing back up at them. "What?"

White was left staring at him, somewhat baffled. "How…"

"It's not that far down," N shrugged. "Just jump."

"Not far for you maybe, there's no way we can jump down there!" Black protested. "I like my legs to not be broken, thanks."

"Hey! How did you lot get in here!?"

"Oh boy," White muttered as a couple of Team Plasma grunts appeared at the door on the other side of the room.

"Bah. Lucario, you go on ahead, I'm sure we'll find a way down there soon," Black sighed.

Lucario nodded, hopping down to the ground.

"Humph. You three are crazy if you think you can just waltz right in here," the first grunt snapped. "I hope for your own sakes that you know how to fight!"

"Well, I see Team Plasma is the same as always," White commented, taking a Pokéball from her belt. "Sigilyph!"

The colourful Pokémon appeared in the air next to her with a chirp. She flew lower so that White could reach her.

"You get the idea, Black," White shrugged, hopping onto Sigilyph's back. Sigilyph let out another chirp before flying over the railing, descending to the ground below. As soon as she was within a safe distance of the ground, White jumped down.

"That's one way to get down there, I s'pose," Black said evenly. "Braviary, I need your help…"

Once he appeared, Braviary let out a caw and flew over, grabbing Black's shoulders to carry him.

"Ow! Mind the claws, okay?" Black protested, but soon he was on the ground with the others once more.

Looking slightly more concerned than they had been before, the grunts sent out their own Pokémon: Cofagrigus and Scraggy.

"White, you can take care of the Scraggy," Black grinned, taking a Pokéball from his belt.

"What—okay…?" White shrugged. "N, leave this to us, okay?"

For a moment she thought N was going to protest. Then he nodded. "Okay." Obviously even he had realised that this room was a bit small for Reshiram to fight in.

"Let's get 'em, Zoroark!" Black called, sending out the dark Pokémon.

Zoroark gave a fox-like bark as he appeared, casting a quick glance at N before looking back at Team Plasma once more.

White just blinked in surprise, exchanging a glance with first N and then Black. "I'm just going to assume there's a long story behind this."

"Yeah."

"Pretty much."

"Okay then."

"Cofagrigus, use Shadow Ball!"

Sigilyph let out a screech as she was hit with the ghostly attack. Much like the Deino earlier, Cofagrigus's attack seemed to be strangely overpowered. Yet White's Pokémon was strong. A moment later, Sigilyph righted herself, flying back up and giving a brisk shake.

"Hang in there, Sigilyph!" White pleaded, knowing her Pokémon was close to fainting already. "Hit Scraggy with Air Slash!"

Team Plasma's Scraggy was hit with such a ferocious Air Slash that it got knocked over backwards. Yet that hadn't been enough to defeat it. Scraggy climbed back to its feet, pulling its extra skin layer back up to its neck.

"Scraggy! Hi Jump Kick on Zoroark, now!"

The Scraggy let out a shriek as it raced towards Zoroark. The fox jumped aside to avoid the attack as Scraggy went flying towards him. Unable to stop its attack, the smaller Pokémon crashed into the wall before falling back to the ground, fainted.

"Nice," Black laughed. "Zoroark, let's finish this off so we can hurry up and find the big cheese. Night Daze!"

Letting out a snarl, Zoroark slammed his forepaws on the ground. A dark shock wave spread through the room, hitting Cofagrigus full-on. The powerful shock was too much for the ghost and it fainted instantly.

"Now then, if you'll excuse us," Black said, a smug look on his face as he casually walked past the Team Plasma grunts.

"Humph. Don't get too confident, kid. You may have beaten us, but you're no match for the others," one of them growled.

* * *

After the fight against the grunts, White had returned Sigilyph to her Pokéball. Now they were following Lucario along the corridor once more. White wasn't sure if she was more concerned about how they were going to defeat Team Plasma or how they would find their way back out of this building afterwards…

It wasn't long until they came across another large room. Not quite as big as the first, but the lack of old shelves here made the place seem even emptier.

They weren't that far into the room when suddenly Lucario skidded to a halt, holding out his arms as if to tell them to stop.

Black managed to halt before running straight into his Pokémon. "Lucario? What's the matter?"

Lucario briefly glanced back at him, but didn't make anything that could be considered a reply. He seemed to be staring at something in front of them, but as far as White could tell there was nothing there…

A sudden look of realisation came over Black. "We know you're there! Show yourselves!"

_Who's he talking to…?_ White wondered, about to say that out loud until her question was answered for her.

A few metres away, the air seemed to warp as three figures appeared in front of them.

_The Shadow Triad._

"You've done well to make it all the way in here," one of them stated. "Did you come to give us the legendary dragons?"

"Of course not!" White said defiantly. "If you really believed we'd be crazy enough to do that, you've got another thing coming."

"Then you leave Team Plasma no choice but to move to our backup plan. Unless, of course, you're assuming you can fight us."

"Assuming?" Black tutted. "We've wiped the floor with you guys twice already."

"Things are different now. This time you cannot beat us."

_They seem awfully confident._ "Well, there are three of us and three of them," White pointed out. "I'd say we're more than evenly matched. Black? N?"

"Same as always," Black shrugged. "Even if we were outnumbered we'd still be able to defeat them."

"Yeah. So we can beat them," N nodded, not sounding quite as confident as them but he was still determined to fight if it meant saving the Pokémon.

Without a word, the Shadow Triad split up across the room. It seemed they weren't going to risk facing their combined strength in a triple battle. At least they wouldn't end up getting in each other's way.

"Well, here we go," White muttered.

"Wait," Black said suddenly. "Guys, be careful. If any of your Pokémon faint, put them back in their Pokéball as quickly as you can."

At first White couldn't work out why he was telling them to do this. Then she remembered what he'd told her earlier about Cheren's Stoutland. "Okay. I'll keep that in mind."

"That goes for you too, N," Black said meaningfully. "Although I'm guessing if you had any Pokémon other than Reshiram with you then we'd have seen them already. Just… don't do anything that'll involve me getting burned, okay?"

"I won't," N stated, looking slightly offended. White had the feeling he couldn't tell that Black was joking.

At that, the three of them split up. There was a loud roar that echoed around the room as N released Reshiram from her Pokéball.

White headed towards the shadow who was on the other side of the room. A Krookodile stood at his side, watching her intently through dark-framed eyes.

_Well, this is the only thing I have against dark ground… I hope that Krookodile is slow._ "Emboar," White called, taking a Pokéball from her belt.

The fire pig appeared next to her, letting out a loud growl. Even he knew that Team Plasma needed to be stopped, from the looks of things.

Krookodile stepped forward, giving a menacing-looking grin.

"Okay, Emboar, use Arm Thrust!"

Giving a snort, Emboar raced towards Krookodile, hitting it with a strong punch. The Krookodile roared as it was hit by the consecutive fighting attack, the fifth hit sending it flying backwards. Emboar stepped back.

"Okay, good," White nodded. This shouldn't be too hard.

To her surprise, however, Krookodile wasn't yet defeated. It climbed back to its feet, snarling.

"Krookodile. Earthquake."

The large crocodile snapped its jaws menacingly, jumping and hitting the floor hard with all of its strength. The ground shook violently – luckily White was expecting it to happen this time and she managed to keep her balance. Emboar, however, didn't get off so lightly. Being weak to ground, the fire Pokémon was affected badly by the attack. Even before the ground had stopped shaking, he'd fainted.

"Emboar, get back!" White called quickly, sending Emboar back to his Pokéball before the shadow even got a chance to attack again. _Well, he was my only fighting Pokémon… looks like we'll have to do this the hard way._ "Haxorus!"

The dragon appeared with a roar, the axe-like fangs on the sides of his face glinting in the low light. After narrowing his eyes at the enemy, he glanced back at White, as if eagerly awaiting her instructions.

"We can't let this guy beat us, right?" she smiled confidently. "Haxorus, use Dragon Claw!"

Already worn down by the previous attack, the Krookodile couldn't stand up to being slashed with Haxorus's powerful claws, and it fainted.

As the shadow sent Krookodile back to its Pokéball, White took the chance to glance around and see how the others were doing. Black and Lucario were okay; the shadow they were fighting had sent out a Liepard, but after being hit by a critical Aura Sphere attack it fainted. On the other side of the room, N and Reshiram didn't seem to be having any trouble either; their opponent seemed to have a lot of Bisharp with them, and Reshiram was making quick work of defeating the steel Pokémon.

It looked like she was the only one having difficulties here. Not to mention, she hadn't had a full-out Pokémon battle in ages…

The next Pokémon the shadow sent out was a Weavile.

_This could be difficult…_

She wasn't crazy enough to try using Haxorus's most powerful attack inside a building – sending meteors crashing through the roof would be kind of dangerous. _This worked last time, let's try it again._

"Haxorus, use Dragon Claw!"

"Weavile. Ice Beam."

The Weavile's speed meant that it managed to attack before the dragon even had a chance. Haxorus let out a loud roar as he was hit by the beam of ice, water freezing over him. Determined not to be beaten, Haxorus managed to break out of the ice, slashing Weavile with his claws.

Weavile was definitely affected by the attack, but it wasn't enough to defeat it.

"Hang in there, Haxorus," White assured, hoping that he'd be able to handle this fight. All of the shadow's Pokémon seemed to have type advantages over hers… and even super-effective attacks wouldn't defeat them instantly. "Dragon Claw, quickly!"

Luckily, this time Haxorus managed to make an attack before the shadow even gave instructions to their own Pokémon. The Weavile let out a yowl as it was slashed, thrown backwards. It collapsed on the ground.

"Weavile, get up. Use Ice Beam again."

White was left looking slightly dumbfounded as Weavile picked itself up off the ground. It was weakened considerably and close to fainting, but it was still just hanging on in there. With a snarl, Weavile sent a beam of ice shooting at Haxorus.

Unable to stand up to the attack this time, Haxorus fainted.

Hurriedly sending him back to his Pokéball, White had to think for a moment as to what to do next. She couldn't send Sigilyph out here against these dark-type Pokémon – especially when she was already hurt. For now, she was reluctant to send Zekrom out, even more so since she was currently faced with an ice-type Pokémon. It looked like she didn't have much choice for now.

"Go, Excadrill!"

Light split from the Pokéball and Excadrill appeared in front of her, glancing around to see where the enemy was.

"Okay Excadrill, we've gotta try and finish this up quickly. Use Rock Slide!"

A torrent of rocks was sent crashing down on Weavile. This time the Pokémon actually fainted.

"Okay. Well done," White praised.

The shadow sent out their next Pokémon; a Houndoom.

_Oh come on!_

It looked like this was going to be another attack that depended on speed. "Excadrill, use Earthquake!"

Fortunately, Excadrill was fast. She jumped, hitting the ground and causing it to shake violently. The shadow's Houndoom let out a yelp of protest as the floor shook underneath it and after a few seconds it lost its balance.

White held her breath. Was the dark Pokémon defeated? Earthquake was a powerful attack…

"Houndoom, use Inferno."

_Ack!_ White had to take a step back as suddenly Excadrill was engulfed by raging flames. As soon as the fire dispersed, the Pokémon fainted.

As she sent Excadrill back to her Pokéball, White was seriously starting to get irritated by the shadow hurting all her Pokémon to the point of defeat. At this rate they'd never get anywhere.

_Okay then, you asked for it._ "Go get 'em, Zekrom!"

As soon as she sent out the black dragon, he let out an ear-splitting roar that echoed continuously around the room for a few seconds. The generator in his tail sparked with blue electricity.

The shadow didn't react much beyond a blink. "So you're going to fight us with the legendary Pokémon."

"Why, have you finally realised that we're stronger than we look? You can't honestly believe that we wouldn't be able to beat you after we've already done so twice already," White said pointedly. Zekrom let out a growl in agreement.

"Aagh!"

White froze as she heard the shout. She glanced back across the room. "Black!"

The shadow he'd been fighting had sent out a Seviper, despite the fact that Lucario was immune to poison. Yet the large snake had slipped past the Pokémon and lunged at Black instead, sinking its fangs into his shoulder. Seviper didn't release him until it was attacked by Lucario. As soon as the snake was dragged away, Black collapsed against the wall.

"Black, hold on!" White shouted. She needed to help him, but she couldn't leave Zekrom to fight Team Plasma by himself…

At least Lucario would protect him for now. He was nudging Black's arm frantically but the trainer didn't respond.

_Black, please be okay…_ White pleaded silently, clenching her fist. Was that really how Team Plasma was going to fight? Suddenly coming here seemed a whole lot more dangerous.

"Houndoom, use Inferno again."

Zekrom snarled as he was engulfed by the fierce fire. Yet even though Houndoom's attack was overpowered like all of Team Plasma's Pokémon were, the fire-type move wasn't very effective, and Zekrom was hardly affected at all by the flames. As soon as they disappeared, he gave a snort.

"Zekrom, Fusion Bolt!"

Letting out a roar, Zekrom used his wings to float slightly above the ground, electricity forming around him. A moment later he rushed forwards and Houndoom was hit by a powerful bolt of electricity. The dark Pokémon fainted instantly.

Once Zekrom landed back next to her again, White patted his nose. She glanced back over at the shadow; they hadn't sent out any more Pokémon. She'd defeated them.

_Phew… now I can go and help Black._

"Honestly, you were beaten by that trainer? I suppose if you want something done around here, you've got to do it yourself."

White gasped as she heard the voice. She should have expected as much. She looked over at the door to the room to see Ghetsis emerging from the shadows beyond, Eelektross and Hydreigon hovering at his side. He had that usual intimidating smug expression on his face.

"Considering what a mess of things you've made here, I doubt you showed up to give us the legendary dragons," he said mockingly. "You must be assuming that you can beat us. How foolish."

"You're trying to make out that we can't beat you when we've done so already?" White scowled.

The glare Ghetsis gave her was so full of hatred that White was starting to get unnerved. "If you're so insistent that you can beat us, then go ahead. Battle alongside the legendary Pokémon; we'll see who the true winner is."

"Okay then," White said confidently. "I will."

Zekrom took a step forward, growling quietly. The turbine in his tail crackled with electricity.

The shadow had vanished, along with the one who had been fighting Black. White cast a quick glance at the trainer; he was still unconscious. Lucario was watching them intently, not wanting to venture further into the room whilst the others were still in battle, especially with Reshiram's fire-type attacks.

"Eelektross, you should be able to take this. Everything's going to plan so far," Ghetsis ordered the electric Pokémon. Eelektross floated towards them, letting out an eerie gargling sound.

_Oh great, the Pokémon with no weakness. I doubt electricity will do much._"Zekrom, use Zen Headbutt."

Pausing for a moment, Zekrom gave a quiet snarl. Then he raced towards Eelektross, slamming into the Pokémon with the psychic attack.

Eelektross let out another of its weird sounds as it was thrown backwards. A moment later it gave itself a brisk shake, as if simply shrugging off the attack.

"That's the power of a legendary Pokémon? How disappointing," Ghetsis smirked. "Eelektross, use Dragon Claw."

The large eel shot forward, slashing Zekrom with an overpowered attack.

Then the dragon let out a fierce growl, falling to the ground.

"Zekrom!" White cried. The Eelektross had managed to defeat him with only one attack. Why were all of Team Plasma's Pokémon so crazily overpowered?

White took a Pokéball from her belt. "Zekrom, get back!"

Nothing happened.

"What…"

"Not so fast." Ghetsis held up a metal object. At first it looked like a Pokéball, but no, it was almost like some kind of technology device…

"What did you do!?" White demanded, pressing the button on Zekrom's Pokéball but still nothing happening.

"Well, nice to know this technology still works after so long," Ghetsis mused. "It blocks out signals from Pokéballs. Useful, I must say. Now then, let's get this over with. I must admit, I wasn't entirely truthful when I explained our plan to you. We don't necessarily need the legendary Pokémon; we just need them dead."

_No…_ "You can't—"

"Eelektross, use Dragon Claw."

White froze. _No!_

Eelektross floated back over to Zekrom, raising one arm, claws glinting in the dim light.

"Zekrom!"

Although fainted, the dragon let out an agonized roar as he was slashed by the Pokémon's powerful claws.

Then his head flopped limply back to the ground.

"No…" White breathed. "NO! Zekrom!"

"Like I said," Ghetsis said calmly, walking away. "This time, you cannot beat Team Plasma."

White was left staring blankly ahead of her. She felt like she'd forgotten how to breathe.

"Zekrom… c'mon, get up! W-we have to keep fighting and beat Team Plasma! Zekrom, please!" White cried, her voice catching in her throat.

Yet the dragon didn't make any reaction to her voice. His eyes were closed and he wasn't moving.

"No…" she choked, falling to her knees.

_How could they do this!?_

She felt like she was stuck in a trance. The room was starting to spin around her…

Zekrom had been by her side for two years now. He'd accepted her as a hero of Unova just over two years ago and had stayed with her since they defeated Team Plasma together before. And after she left Unova, he was the one she'd always let out in the forest, whether it was to walk together, fly above the trees, or even just sit and watch the world go by.

She couldn't believe that he was really gone…

"Reshiram!"

She was brought back to her senses with a jolt as she heard N's shout. White glanced across the room in time to see Reshiram faint after being hit by an attack from Hydreigon. The other shadow had vanished.

_Ghetsis is trying to kill Reshiram too…_

She wanted to get up, send out one of her remaining Pokémon to help, but she couldn't even move. The shock of losing Zekrom had taken all her energy and will to fight away from her.

"Why are you doing this?" N cried, looking horrified. "I don't understand!"

"Foolish child, as if you understand anything! Explaining our plans to you would be a waste," Ghetsis tutted. "No one can stop Team Plasma, especially not a defective boy."

"As far as I can tell, your plans are just killing Pokémon! It's not fair!"

"Not fair? When I assigned you as Team Plasma's king, you were willing to steal the Pokémon from all trainers, whether there was a reason to or not. And now you claim to have any sense as to what is fair? You're still just an idiot child."

N fell silent for a moment. He clenched his fist in frustration. "If I'm an idiot, it's for believing anything you ever told me! Whenever you brought those injured Pokémon to me, you… you were the one who hurt them, weren't you!"

A brief look of surprise flashed on Ghetsis's face. "I don't know what's going on in your head – I'm sure nobody does – but I was not the one that hurt those Pokémon. They were liberated from their trainers. It was their trainers that harmed them; not Team Plasma."

N didn't reply. It was obvious just from the expression on his face that he didn't know whether to believe him or not.

"But still, enough of the past. You cannot stop our plans. Hydreigon," he summoned the three-headed dragon Pokémon forwards.

"W…wait! What are you…?"

"Reshiram must be exterminated."

"No!" N shouted, a look of sheer horror on his face. He jumped forward to stand in front of the white dragon, holding his arms out in a vain attempt to protect her. "I won't let you kill Reshiram!"

Ghetsis just blinked, no emotion showing on his face at all. "There isn't anything you can do. Unless you want to be killed as well I suggest you move."

"No!"

"Children, honestly," Ghetsis sighed, rolling his eyes. "Fine then. Hydreigon, use Hyper Beam. If you hit the boy then I couldn't really care less."

Looking somewhat surprised, Hydreigon flew forward. It started to charge its power, light beginning to form around its main mouth.

Still, N stood his ground. He looked terrified but didn't make any attempt to move out of the way.

"N, get away from there!" White screamed.

He ignored her.

"_N!_"

This time he cast a brief glance towards her. The desperate look in his eyes said everything.

He wasn't going to let Reshiram die, and he didn't care if that meant he got hurt.

Hydreigon finished charging the attack, sending a laser shooting through the air, the light harsh against the darkness of the room. With no way of stopping it, N took the full force of the beam and was blasted across the room, falling limply to the ground.


	10. Recovery

**Feel sorry for Black. Everyone was worried whether N would be okay but nobody really cared about him. xD**

**So yeah. This chapter was the first instance of me having to remove a sentence because it was so totally random it ruined the serious scene because I couldn't stop laughing at it...**

**Also, is it just me or does Striaton City seem like the perfect hospital location?**

* * *

_No…_

White wasn't sure how much more she could take. Everyone around her was getting hurt. First Black, then Zekrom, and now N…

And she knew that at least one of them would never wake up.

"Stupid boy," Ghetsis muttered. "He should have realised that stopping one attempt to kill Reshiram wouldn't prevent me altogether…"

White didn't say anything. She didn't even know if she could.

"Let's just finish this already. Eelektross, use Dragon Claw."

Hydreigon was still trying to recover its energy from having used Hyper Beam. Eelektross floated forwards to take its place, letting out another of its weird gurgling sounds.

"Accelgor, quickly! Use Acid Spray!"

_Huh…?_

White wondered whether she was starting to hallucinate now as the bug Pokémon sped across the room. It managed to reach Eelektross before the eel could use its attack, spitting acid over the electric Pokémon. Eelektross backed away instantly, letting out a noise which was probably supposed to be a shriek.

"What!?" Ghetsis exclaimed. He looked towards where the voice had come from. "Oh, it's you. How the hell did you get in here?"

"Well, it's not as if the place is exactly heavily guarded," Alder shrugged. "But you are the head of Team Plasma, aren't you? The one behind this crazy Pokémon killing spree."

"So Unova's former champion has come to save the day, I see. How very brave of you. The child who defeated you two years ago couldn't beat us, and you think that you stand a chance?"

"Ah, I'd have to be plain stupid to have come here alone," Alder grinned.

Marshal, Caitlin, Grimsley and Shauntal entered the room as well.

"It's too early for this," Caitlin yawned.

"Caitlin, it's the middle of the afternoon," Shauntal tutted.

Ghetsis was clearly having second thoughts about taking on all five of them. Yet at that moment the Shadow Triad reappeared at his side, and a bunch of grunts poured in through the door on the other side of the room. They must have gone to get back up.

"Hah. If you want to face Team Plasma, go ahead," Ghetsis smirked.

Alder glanced around at the Elite Four. "Well?"

"Apparently they're really strong now," Shauntal reminded them. "But I suppose we don't have to actually defeat them."

"Would be helpful if we did though," Marshal commented.

"Either way, let's go!" Alder cheered.

"White! Are you okay?"

White just stared blankly as Cheren and Bianca raced over to her. She didn't even register that they were there straight away.

"White!" Cheren repeated, crouching down so he was on eye-level with her. "What happened? Are you okay?"

"I-I…" White blinked as she tried to snap back to reality. "I'm… I'm okay, just… help N and Black… please… th-they're hurt…"

Not looking entirely convinced that she was okay, Cheren stood up, scanning the room. "Whatever happened here, this looks serious. We'd better get everyone out of here quickly."

"Moving the Pokémon is going to be difficult…" Bianca pointed out.

"Hey, what's this?" Cheren asked. He'd walked a few metres away to pick something up from the ground. "Oh, a Pokéball."

"That… that's Reshiram's Pokéball," White said quietly once she realised. "I guess N must have dropped it when he got hit…"

Cheren and Bianca exchanged a glance.

"I don't know what happened here, but we should probably try and get them to a hospital," Cheren decided. He walked over to Reshiram, pressing the button on the Pokéball. There was a strip of light and the white dragon vanished. Ghetsis must have turned off the signal-blocking device by now.

"What about Zekrom?" Bianca asked, glancing at the limp dragon a few metres away.

White felt a fresh wave of grief crash over her, and it was all she could do to stop the tears forming in her eyes from spilling over. "There's nothing anyone can do. He's… he's gone."

* * *

The sun was beaming down from above as Cheren waited by the entrance to Route 1 the following morning. It was hard to believe that anything out of the ordinary had happened yesterday; right now it seemed like a normal day. A couple of wild Patrats were scurrying around in the grass whilst a Watchog kept a lookout, and two Farfetch'ds seemed to be having a leek battle in one of the trees above.

After a short while he heard some footsteps, and turned to see Bianca running towards him.

"Sorry… I'm late…" she panted, skidding to a halt. "Overslept…"

"It's alright," Cheren said simply, checking the time on his Xtransciever. He didn't blame her. After everything that happened yesterday it hadn't been until late into the night that they'd actually managed to get back to Nuvema Town – Cheren was just glad that his parents had been happy to let him stay the night despite the fact that he'd probably woken them up.

"Have you spoken to White today?" Bianca asked once she'd finally regained her breath.

"I've tried ringing her but she never answers," Cheren shrugged helplessly. "I think she's had her Xtransciever off since before she got here, either that or she doesn't have it with her. I should have mentioned that to her yesterday…"

"Oh, okay," Bianca replied. "Do you… do you think she's okay…?"

"Physically. She's probably upset about what happened to Zekrom, though. You know how close White and her Pokémon team are. That's how she managed to get to the Pokémon League before and beat Team Plasma."

"Poor White…" Bianca sighed.

"Yeah," Cheren agreed, not entirely sure how to reply. He could definitely sympathise with the feeling of losing a Pokémon, that was for sure…

Yet there were still some things he didn't understand; the main one being why N had been with Black and White. The last time Cheren saw him was just over two years ago, when White had battled against him in the fight to stop the old Team Plasma liberating all Pokémon from their trainers. Was he on their side now?

Not only that, but Team Plasma seemed to have taken their acts to a whole new level. Cheren still didn't know exactly what had happened, but he knew that Black and N had been injured by Team Plasma's Pokémon. It seemed that they were resorting to hurting the trainers to win battles now… things were starting to get ever more serious.

"Oh, I have spoken to Alder though," he continued eventually. "He told me what happened in the battle yesterday. They managed to hold off Team Plasma for a while but after everyone else had escaped they had to pull back. I don't know how we're supposed to defeat Team Plasma if even Alder and the Elite Four can't beat them…"

Bianca was silent for a moment as he trailed off. "Aw, don't worry, Cheren. I'm sure we'll find some way!"

"I'm not," Cheren muttered dismally.

"Well, we can worry about that later. You made me wake up this early so that we could go and see the others, so let's go!"

* * *

"Um… excuse me? Miss?"

"Huh…?" White opened her eyes blearily, glancing around. Everything looked so plain here and she could hear the faint humming of a computer nearby. _Where am I again…?_

_Oh yeah… waiting room…_

"How long was I asleep for?" White muttered, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She must have drifted off on one of the chairs in here, but at least they had cushions on them…

"Most of the night," stated the nurse who had woken her. "We didn't want to wake you unless we needed to, and your friends said that you'd had a rather traumatic experience, and there weren't many other patients, so…"

"Okay, thanks," White said hastily, giving a half-hearted smile. She glanced at the clock on the wall. 9:15 AM. She couldn't remember exactly what time she'd fallen asleep but she could recall sitting in here for hours the previous evening with Cheren and Bianca. White hadn't wanted to leave until there was any news of the others…

Some kind of expression must have shown on her face, because the nurse gave her a sympathetic glance. "You're worried about your friends who were injured, aren't you?"

"Yeah…" she admitted, letting out a sigh.

"One of them is called Black, right…?"

"Um… yes…?"

"He's been awake for a while now," the nurse told her. "He was asking if you were around not long ago. I can show you to the room, if you'd like to see them."

Jumping up from the chair, White nodded. "Yes please, if that's alright…" She needed to find out if they were okay.

She followed the nurse through the corridors of the hospital. The place wasn't very big, so it didn't take long to reach the room. This was a small hospital on the edge of Striaton City. Accidents were rare in Unova, so there weren't that many hospitals around. At least there was a nice view from the windows here.

The nurse stepped through the door. "Black? Your friend is here to see you."

At first White hung back slightly, almost scared to face her own friends. Yet as the nurse glanced questioningly back at her she followed nervously.

Black noticed her instantly. "Hey, White!"

"Hey…" she smiled hesitantly.

Black was sat up in the hospital bed, still looking drowsy with slight bags under his eyes and his hair even more ruffled than usual. Yet he still looked glad to see her – relieved even.

"Well, I need to go and check on the other patients," the nurse stated. "Let me know if you need anything!"

"Thanks…" White said, hardly getting the word in on time before the nurse had vanished back to her job.

"You're okay, right?" Black checked. "I don't know exactly what happened…"

"Oh… yeah, I'm okay," White nodded. "But… what about you? And…" she trailed off.

"Me? Ah, I'd say never been better but the after-effects of Seviper's poison aren't exactly friendly," he said wryly. "Said they're gonna keep me in here for at least another 24 hours just incase. And, well…" Black cast a glance across the room.

White followed his glance. On the other side of the room, N was on a bed by the window. He was still unconscious and hadn't reacted at all to them speaking, but at least she could tell that he was breathing.

"I don't know how long they'll keep him in here for; it'll probably depend on when he wakes up… I think he's more or less okay though. No broken bones or internal bleeding or anything like that. What happened, anyway…?"

Suddenly wishing Cheren and Bianca were still here to explain everything for her, White glanced away. "Ghetsis was trying to kill Reshiram… N was hit by Hydreigon's Hyper Beam trying to save her…"

Black looked somewhat shocked. "Hyper Beam!? Ouch… still, it's just like that idiot to do something like that. What happened to Reshiram?"

"Cheren managed to return her to her Pokéball after Alder and the others arrived and took over the fight, so I'm looking after her for now… so Reshiram is still okay, at least."

Her voice wavered slightly at the end of her sentence. Black was left watching her, a look of growing concern in his eyes. "White…?"

She didn't reply.

"You said 'at least'… did… did something happen to Zekrom…?"

White let out a shaky sigh. She had to remain strong. "If it's okay with you, I… I'd rather not talk about it."

"That's okay…" Black said sympathetically, realising what had happened. "White, I'm sorry… if I'd managed to avoid getting attacked by Seviper, I could have helped you…"

"No, no, it's not your fault!" she insisted, forcing herself to smile. "You couldn't help it. Team Plasma have taken things way too far this time."

"You're telling me," Black muttered. He put a hand to his injured shoulder, wincing slightly. "Still, it's probably a good idea if you keep Reshiram with you until N gets out of here. I still don't trust him not to do something stupid."

White gave a half-hearted laugh, knowing that he wasn't being completely serious. "Sure." From what Black was saying, it sounded like he believed that both of them were going to be okay. Yet seeing N lying motionlessly on the bed across the room, White wished she could share that confidence…

* * *

It was that time of day when most people had already had breakfast and it was too early for lunch; therefore Striaton City's restaurant was rather quiet. White was sat at one of the tables in the corner, staring blankly at the cup of tea in front of her.

"Y'know, that'll go cold soon if you don't drink it."

White glanced up to see Cress watching her, a slight customer-friendly smile on his face.

"Sorry…" she sighed, taking the handle of the mug but not yet attempting to drink any.

"No need to apologise," Cress shrugged. "You've been sat here looking gloomy for a while now. Something happened?"

"Yeah," White said simply, hoping he wouldn't ask what.

"Hm. Well, so long as your gloom doesn't spread to our other customers," he joked. "Ah, I remember when you first came here. Just started off on your adventure and so excited to get your first gym badge. Even though I kept defeating you, you wouldn't give up," he smiled nostalgically as he walked away to get on with his job. He cast a quick glance back. "Maybe someday you'd join me for a Pokémon battle against my brothers. It would nice to have a trainer on my side for a change!"

White gave a half-hearted smile. Yet she couldn't even think about having a Pokémon battle with anyone. Not yet.

"White, here you are! I've been looking everywhere for you!"

"Huh?" she glanced around. "Oh, hey Cheren."

Cheren walked over, taking a seat at the table. "Black said you'd vanished off somewhere. You okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine!" White assured. Why was everyone asking her if _she_ was okay? Quite frankly that was the least of her concerns right now…

"Do you even have your Xtransciever with you? I've been trying to call you all morning."

"Oh… sorry," White apologised quickly. "It's been off in my bag since before I made the journey here. I'll turn it on in a minute…"

"Okay," Cheren nodded. He watched her for a moment; she was still staring aimlessly at her tea. "Have you eaten anything this morning?"

"I haven't had anything to eat since yesterday morning," White admitted with a shrug.

"White!" Cheren protested. "Seriously, just be glad your mother didn't come out here to see you. You've got to eat something though, you'll starve otherwise."

White let out a long sigh. Even though her stomach growled in protest, she wasn't hungry. But if it was eat something or have to put up with Cheren lecturing her… "Okay, okay. But knowing you, Cheren, you haven't eaten breakfast today either."

He put his arms up in mock defence. "Okay, you got me. I'll go order something."


	11. Oblivion

**Nothing much to say about this chapter other than scenes involving Black and N are both hilarious and awkward to write. Yup.**

**Well, we can tell what's gonna happen in the next chapter anyways...**

* * *

"Do you think White is okay?" Black asked, casting a glance at the door even though there was nothing there. Not long after she'd been here to visit him, White had left, looking somewhat distressed. Black had told Cheren and Bianca this when they arrived, and a while ago Cheren had gone out looking for her.

"I really don't know," Bianca sighed, not seeming her usual cheery self at all. "I still don't even know what happened yesterday. No matter how many times Cheren asked her yesterday, White barely told us anything."

"All I can remember is getting attacked by a Seviper," Black shrugged. "I guess I passed out after that. I've heard Seviper poison is supposed to be pretty deadly."

"Poison!?" Bianca yelped, stepping back slightly.

Black couldn't help but laugh. "It's not as if it's contagious! Anyway, they gave me an antidote for it. I'll be completely cured in a day or two."

"Oh, okay, good," Bianca let out a quiet sigh of relief.

Just then, Black heard a noise from across the room. A barely-audible groan.

"Huh?" he muttered, glancing towards the window. "Hey, N, you finally awake?"

"Black…?" N asked weakly. "What… where… where's Reshiram…?"

"I think White's looking after her for now," Black shrugged matter-of-factly. "I don't know exactly what kind of crazy stunt you pulled back there, but I guess you must have managed to save the dragon."

N opened his eyes slightly. He attempted to move but winced in pain and obviously decided against it. "Where… are we…?"

"Well, let's see…" Black mumbled. "Shall I go out on a whim and assume that you know what a hospital is?"

"Oh… okay…"

There was a brief silence.

"Is… is White okay…?"

"Well…" Black started, not really sure how to explain. He exchanged a desperate glance with Bianca.

"Th-they didn't hurt her too, did they…?"

"Not physically," Black sighed. "Don't worry, N, I'm sure she's fine." In all honesty, he was worried too. But White was probably just still getting over Zekrom's death. She'd be fine soon enough.

* * *

Not long after leaving the restaurant, White was practically ambushed.

"White!" Bianca cheered, running over and hugging her.

"Ah! Bianca?" White exclaimed in surprise. "Hi…?"

"I guess Cheren found you then," Bianca said cheerily, releasing her from the hug at last.

"Sulking in the corner of the restaurant," Cheren said with a half-hearted smile.

"Aww, are you okay now, White?" Bianca asked kindly. "You looked kinda upset last night…"

"I'm fine, Bianca," White assured her. "Thanks for staying with me though, guys."

"Ah, no problem," Cheren shrugged.

"What're friends for?" Bianca beamed. "Oh, by the way, I just saw the others. Black's okay and N's just woken up."

"Really? Is he okay?" White asked.

"Um, I think so… why don't you go and see him? He was asking if you were okay…"

"I… maybe later," White said quietly. She didn't want to go back to the hospital just yet. Not only that, but she didn't know if she could face N yet either. She hadn't managed to stop Zekrom from getting killed, and she hadn't even attempted to stop him getting hurt trying to rescue Reshiram…

She let out a faint sigh. _Zekrom, I'm sorry…_

Clearly noticing her sudden change in mood, Cheren nudged her shoulder. "Hey, why don't we go to Nacrene City for a while? It might do you some good to get away from here for a couple of hours. Besides, I haven't seen Lenora in a long time. She probably wants to know how the gym's doing."

"Huh…?" White muttered, instantly seeing through his attempt at trying to take her mind off things. But perhaps that wasn't such a bad idea. Besides, by the time they got back, maybe she'd have worked up the courage to go back and see the others again… "Okay, sure."

* * *

Black lay on the hospital bed, staring at the ceiling. He knew the nurse had told him that the chances were he'd end up with after-effects from the poison, but he'd felt more or less fine earlier and had assumed that he wouldn't get any. Yet now, many hours after waking up, he'd managed to get the worst headache he could ever remember experiencing. Every time his heart beat it send a wave of pain pulsing through his head.

Making it worse was a clicking noise, which took Black a few minutes to realise he wasn't just imagining. He glanced across the room. N was sat up, turning the sections of the void cube he always seemed to carry with him.

"Can you cut that out? I've got a headache," Black complained.

Not giving a worded reply, N just flopped back onto the bed, letting out a frustrated sigh that was cut short by a gasp of pain.

"Thanks."

He was probably bored out of his mind. Black would be too if it wasn't for the fact that he felt so run down that even blinking seemed like an effort right now.

There was a minute of silence before it was broken by a ringing noise.

"Oh come on!" Black groaned. He sighed, forcing himself to sit up despite every one of his muscles screaming at him in protest. Holding one hand to his head in an attempt to dull the pain, he reached for his Xtransciever, which was on the side table along with his hat and a small lamp. Quickly running a hand through his untidy hair, he pressed the button on the Xtransciever to answer the call and finally cut off the noise it was making. "Hello?"

"Black? Honey, are you okay? Oh my goodness, is that a hospital!?"

_Mum, really, you had to choose _now_ to call? _Black thought ruefully. "I'm fine—"

"What happened to you!? Are you hurt?"

"I said I'm fine, Mum!" Black rolled his eyes. "Don't worry so much."

"Of course I'll worry, Black, you're my son! I hope you're not doing anything too dangerous. Come back home soon in one piece, okay?"

"Yes, Mum," Black rehearsed like an obedient child in an effort to get her to stop pestering him. "I'll see you soon."

Black hung up before she could start fretting over him again. He put his Xtransciever back on the side table.

Then he noticed that N was sat watching him.

"What?" Black muttered.

"Why did you do that?" N blinked. "I mean, she's your mother. Why did you just pretend nothing happened…?"

"I think you just explained why," Black said pointedly.

"Huh…?"

"Because she's my mum, that's why. If I tell her what happened she'd probably have a panic attack. Besides, she's on the other side of Unova; I don't want her worrying about me when she can't do anything to help. Mums always worry too much. Haven't you had to put up with that?"

N shrugged. "I can't even remember what my mother looked like, let alone how she acted around me."

Black froze. "Oh… sorry…"

"There's something else I don't understand. That's the first time you've apologised to me for anything and it's for something that didn't even have anything to do with you."

"Huh?" Black exclaimed. "Wait, what did I do that even required an apology in the first place?"

"All the mean things you've said to me since yesterday," N huffed. "Saying I was useless."

"I…" Black started, but trailed off. He hadn't realised that N couldn't pick up on his sarcasm. "Well, sorry. I didn't really mean it that way though," he added. "I was just joking, y'know? If I really meant to insult you, I'd have said something a lot worse, believe me."

N just blinked. "I'm not sure I really understand, but… okay."

"Now if you don't mind," Black concluded evenly, "could you stop talking? I'm not exaggerating when I say it feels like there are bombs going off in my head."

"What?" N exclaimed, looking somewhat alarmed.

"It's just a figure of speech, N," Black sighed.

* * *

The Nacrene City museum looked almost the same as it had done two years ago. The main room was full of fossils and skeletons that were as tall as the ceiling. Cheren and Bianca had gone through to the old gym to go and speak to Lenora, but for now White had stayed behind to marvel at all the relics of ancient Pokémon and civilisations.

She was just about to go and catch up to the others when suddenly something caught her eye. One of the smaller displays across the room. _That's…_

_The dark stone._

For a brief moment, White felt the tiniest speck of hope flutter inside her. Yet she quickly pushed it away.

_It's just a replica, stupid. Zekrom isn't coming back._

White let out a long sigh. She needed to stop moping around, longing for her lost Pokémon… but that was easier said than done. Right now she couldn't even imagine just putting all of this behind her. So what was she supposed to do?

Perhaps there was only one thing she _could_ do. Team Plasma was still up and running. They'd managed to kill Zekrom, but if they still wanted both of the legendary Pokémon erased, were they intending to take up their second plan and create a Pokémon massacre across Unova?

She just hoped that they would wait before going to those measures. Right now it seemed that the only way to stop them was to let them have their own way and hand over Reshiram – they were far too powerful for them to fight. Yet even though White had Reshiram with her at the moment inside her Pokéball, she knew that N would never forgive her if she gave in to Team Plasma's demands.

So how on earth were they supposed to beat them?

Shaking her head quickly to try and clear it, White sighed again. This wasn't getting them anywhere. She couldn't think clearly enough at the moment to come up with any kind of plan that would actually work. Instead, she decided to finally catch up to Cheren and Bianca.

* * *

Two days since their last encounter with Team Plasma, White walked along the hospital corridor, not even having to pay attention to the room numbers anymore. By now she knew where Black and N were. She'd been to see them yesterday afternoon after she'd got back to Striaton, but she hadn't stayed for long – mainly due to Black snapping at her because he had a bad headache which had obviously put him in a bad mood.

She'd gone back to Nuvema Town yesterday evening, more than happy to spend a night in her old bed once more. It was definitely more comfortable than the seats in the hospital waiting room, at least. After her mother insisted she stayed for breakfast, she'd received a call from Black through her Xtransciever – which she had finally switched on – asking her to go to the hospital. Now that the effects of the poison had worn off, Black was allowed to leave, although he was going to wait until she got there first.

White reached the door of the room, hesitating for a moment as usual. Then she took a deep breath and stepped forward.

"Hey guys."

"White, finally!" Black exclaimed, sounding somewhat relieved. He was stood waiting for her and as soon as she came into the room he grabbed his bag, slinging it over his shoulder – then wincing slightly and switching it to the other one.

"How long have you been standing around waiting here?" she questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm not sure. But it probably seems like a lot longer thanks to someone who wouldn't stop moaning at me," he tutted, glancing towards N.

"What?" N blinked innocently as he walked over to join them. At least he seemed to be recovering.

"Don't try and hide the fact that you've been complaining for the past hour," Black muttered, rolling his eyes.

"But I want to leave this place too!" N protested. "It's boring and I don't want to be here alone…"

Black threw White a meaningful glance.

"Don't worry, N, I'm sure they'll let you out of here soon enough," she assured him.

"I don't know why they're even keeping me here, I'm fine!" N grumbled.

"If you were _fine_, they'd let you go," Black said pointedly. "Besides, they just want to give a couple days for your injuries to heal."

"I-Injuries?" White echoed.

"I said I'm fine," N muttered.

Black just tutted, rolling his eyes. He grabbed the hem of N's shirt, pulling it up.

"Wha—hey!" N cried.

White just took a step back, her eyes widening in horror. Most of N's chest and stomach was a horrible blue-black colour, bruised worse than she could ever have imagined. It seemed almost a miracle that the Hyper Beam attack hadn't shattered his ribs…

Glaring at Black, N snatched the material out of his grasp, flattening his shirt back down. "I told you, it doesn't matter!"

"I've fallen out of a tree before and been less bruised than that!" Black exclaimed. "If it didn't matter, they wouldn't make you stay here!"

Unable to take any more, White turned and dashed out of the room.

"White?" Black called, looking surprised. "Hey, White, come back!"

He raced after her, slamming the door as he left.

N was left alone in the room, staring sulkily at the door.

"Not fair…"

* * *

By the time Black made it out of the doors of the hospital, White had vanished. He probably would have been able to catch up to her if he hadn't had to check out before they'd let him go.

So far, he couldn't work out why she'd run off like that. There was probably some reason he wouldn't understand. After all, they'd only met a few days ago. And it had been a few very crazy days since then…

He knew that Cheren and Bianca were probably on their way here as well right now, but until they arrived it looked like he'd have to try and look for White on his own. At least he'd managed to persuade the nurse at the hospital to heal his Pokémon yesterday, so he'd be okay if he ran into any trouble.

With no idea where White might have gone, he chose a direction at random and headed along the street towards the fountain. The gardens here were a bit of a maze but luckily the hedges were low so it would be easy enough to see where he was going.

After trailing around the winding paths, Black finally spotted her by the river. She was sat staring dejectedly at the slow-moving water below.

"White?" he spoke up. When she didn't reply, he walked over and sat down on the grass next to her. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing," White replied quietly, still not even looking at him.

"Really? Must be the most depressing nothing ever," Black joked. He picked up a pebble and threw it into the water, creating a splash and surprising a couple of Basculin that were swimming around. "If it's N you're worried about, he's okay. I can tell because he's being annoying again."

For a moment, White didn't reply. She let out a long sigh. "Black… can I ask a favour…?"

"Sure, I guess," he shrugged. "Depends what it is."

"Would you have a Pokémon battle with me?"

"What!?" Black exclaimed in surprise.

"You heard me," White said defiantly, meeting his gaze at last. She had a determined look in her eyes, edged with something else too… desperation? "So? Will you?"

"I…" It took a few seconds for her words to sink in. After a moment of thinking it over, Black nodded. "Yeah. Sure."


	12. Contrast

**What have we learnt from this experience? Pokémon battles have a lot of words in them. Yep.**

**Also, we finally see the whole of Black and White's Pokémon teams. They're based on the teams I had in my (first) playthrough of both games, besides Galvantula, since I used Zebstrika in both BW and BW2, and didn't want two of the main characters in this to have the same Pokémon due to it being confusing to read... also, Arcanine is the only female Pokémon on Black's team, White's team was half-and-half but now there's no Zekrom, 3/5 of them are female. Girl power!**

* * *

"Okay, rules."

"Your favourite thing, eh, Cheren?"

"Shut it, Black, I'm trying to announce here!"

"Sorry."

Cheren gave a huff, straightening his tie out of habit. Not long after Black had accepted White's challenge of a Pokémon battle, Cheren and Bianca had finally turned up. Cheren had insisted on being a judge for the battle, slightly emphasising his title of a gym leader. Deciding that it probably wasn't a good idea to have a full-fledged battle in the middle of town, the four of them had ventured out to a clearing on Route 3. There weren't many people around right now, so hopefully they wouldn't be getting in anyone's way.

"Anyway, so as I was saying before I was so _rudely_ interrupted," Cheren continued, casting an unimpressed glance at Black. "The rules of this battle are simple. You can choose which of your Pokémon to send out, but no substitutions or items allowed. The winner will be whoever defeats all the Pokémon on the other team."

_He must be really confident in White, _Black thought to himself, not wanting to say so out loud. _After what happened to Zekrom, she only has five Pokémon on her team…_

_Still, at least that means I have an advantage._

"Okay, so that aside, choose your first Pokémon," Cheren ordered. He was standing on one of the boulders at the side of the clearing, where he had a clear view of the battle. Watchog was stood next to him, observing everything intently.

"Cheren, you know that some of our Pokémon can use Earthquake, right?" Black said pointedly.

"…Good point," Cheren muttered, climbing down from the rock. "Bianca, if I were you I'd keep to the edge of the clearing."

"Yup," Bianca chirped, going over to sit on one of the rocks, Musharna floating around beside her. They knew that Black and White wouldn't attack them, but Watchog and Musharna were there just in case.

Black took a moment to plan what he was going to do. Who should he send out? He knew that besides Zekrom, the Pokémon White seemed to use most often in battles was Emboar – he'd probably been her first Pokémon. So there was no point sending Lucario out; he was weak to both fire- and fighting-type attacks…

Then again, this was going by an assumption… but what was there to lose?

"Chosen your first Pokémon?" Cheren asked.

They both nodded.

"Okay. Let the battle begin!"

The second those words were spoken, Black took Braviary's Pokéball from his belt. Light split through the air from both sides of the clearing as the two Pokémon were sent out.

Braviary appeared in the air, giving a loud screech and ruffling his feathers slightly. Yet Black was somewhat surprised by who White had chosen to fight.

_Zebstrika!?_

The zebra let out a snort as she appeared, her mane flashing yellow with electricity, pawing at the ground with one hoof. It was almost as if White had predicted which Pokémon he'd expect her to send out. Yet her face showed no signs of triumph or relief. Right now she looked almost expressionless – and quite frankly, it was beginning to make Black feel slightly unnerved. She was probably just concentrating on her battle strategy…

_Now then. How am I going to do this…?_

"Braviary!" he called. "Use Fly!"

"Zebstrika, use Thunderbolt."

Zebstrika was amazingly fast. Before Braviary even had a chance to move, the electric Pokémon let out a loud shriek, summoning a bolt of lightning down from the sky. Braviary let out another screech as he was hit by the attack. Luckily, however, the flying Pokémon managed to withstand the electricity. He flew up into the air, disappearing within the clouds.

Knowing that she wouldn't be able to attack Braviary while he was in the sky, White looked towards the clouds for a moment. "Use Charge. We'll get 'em next time."

Zebstrika nodded, electricity sparking around her as she stored it in her mane.

A few moments later, the clouds were split apart slightly as Braviary soared back down. He shot towards Zebstrika.

The zebra let out a shriek as Braviary smashed head-first into her.

"Zebstrika, now! Use Discharge!"

Letting out a furious snort, Zebstrika sent electricity sparking out in every direction. It was a good thing that Black and White weren't standing too close to the Pokémon; Black considered that getting caught in that attack would be painful. Yet having only just made an attack on the zebra, Braviary couldn't escape in time and was hit by a majority of the attack. This time he fell back, landing on the ground, defeated.

"You did good, Braviary," Black praised as he sent the fainted Pokémon back to its Pokéball.

"It's 'did _well'_, Black. Incorrect use of grammar."

"Shut up, Cheren!"

_So then, what now… someone who can resist Zebstrika's electric-type attacks would be helpful. We're nothing compared to Team Plasma's overpowered Pokémon, but White's Pokémon are still pretty damn strong…_

"Galvantula!" he called, sending out the large spider Pokémon. Galvantula gave a happy chirp as he appeared, scampering around excitedly. He'd been in his Pokéball for a while now and was ready for a good battle.

Not seeming phased at all, White cast a glance at Galvantula. "Zebstrika, use Flame Charge."

_Uh oh._"Galvantula, Sucker Punch!"

The electric spider's attack allowed it to move first, and Zebstrika was thrown back slightly as she was hit. Yet she quickly righted herself, letting out an angry shriek, flames swirling around her. Then she charge forward, smashing into Galvantula, who was launched across the clearing.

Once he landed, Galvantula blinked a couple of times before getting up and brushing dust from his face with one of his forelegs, letting out an annoyed chattering noise.

_Wow. That's one temperamental Zebstrika._ Black thought for a moment as to what to do next. It would probably only take one more hit, super effective or not, to bring Zebstrika down. The problem was, that thing was so fast… would Galvantula be able to manage being hit by another Flame Charge? That last attack would have increased Zebstrika's speed even more…

"Galvantula, let's do this! Use Signal Beam!"

"Zebstrika, Flame Charge!"

Zebstrika reared onto her hind legs this time, letting out a fierce shriek as flames swirled around her once more. Then she shot forwards, charging straight into Galvantula who didn't get a chance to attack.

The spider was thrown across the clearing once more. As he landed, six legs splayed out around him, this time he didn't get up.

"Galvantula, come back," Black sighed, sending him back to his Pokéball. He'd expected White to be a strong trainer, but this was a lot more difficult than he'd first imagined…

It looked like the only way to defeat Zebstrika would be to try and attack before she could.

"C'mon, Arcanine!" Black shouted, the large dog appearing next to him with a bark as she was released from her Pokéball.

Arcanine glanced back at Black, tail wagging as she waited for him to tell her what to do.

"Let's go! ExtremeSpeed!"

Letting out a howl, Arcanine shot forward so fast that it was difficult even to see where she was. Zebstrika looked somewhat confused as well as suddenly Arcanine hit her three times with no time to retaliate. As Arcanine finished the attack, hopping back over to Black's side of the clearing, Zebstrika fainted.

_It's about time! _Black thought, slightly relieved. He'd finally defeated one of White's Pokémon; now there were just another four to go…

He also made sure to pay close attention to White as Zebstrika was defeated. It still wasn't entirely clear to him why she'd challenged him to a battle in the first place. There was just the slightest hint of worry on her face, although it was difficult to tell whether it was over the battle or her Pokémon.

"Excadrill!"

Light split from the Pokéball and the ground-steel mole appeared, nose twitching.

_Hmm. Excadrill is part steel, which means she's weak to fire… but on the other hand, Arcanine is weak to ground… _

"Arcanine, use Flamethrower!"

Before White even had the chance to state a move, Arcanine let out a loud growl, sending a pillar of fire shooting from her mouth. Excadrill snarled as she was hit by the flames, backing away slightly. Even after the attack, the metal on her head and claws took a moment to fade from a bright red colour.

Excadrill had been severely weakened by the attack. Yet it hadn't been enough to defeat her.

"Hang in there, Excadrill!" White pleaded, the concern starting to show in her voice now. "Use Earthquake!"

Roaring, Excadrill jumped into the air, smashing the ground hard with her hind paws as she came back down and sending a massive shock wave through the area. The attack was so strong that Black lost his balance. Arcanine let out a yowl as the ground vibrated furiously beneath her, and a moment later she fainted.

Climbing back to his feet, Black called Arcanine back to her Pokéball."Good job, Arcanine." _She defeated Zebstrika and weakened Excadrill; I'd say that's a pretty amazing feat considering the situation._

Although, this did mean he only had three Pokémon left. This was more difficult than he'd first thought…

Was _that_ why White had challenged him? To show how strong her Pokémon were?

Strange… he hadn't seen her as being that type of person.

"C'mon, Samurott!"

As he appeared, Samurott gave a brisk shake, causing the long fur around his muzzle to ruffle slightly. He gave a grunt, as if to say now that was out of the way he was ready to fight.

"Samurott, use Surf!"

Letting out a roar, Samurott sent a wave of water into the air, crashing down on Excadrill. Already weakened, she fainted.

White was starting to look slightly more worried now as she sent Excadrill back to her Pokéball. Black couldn't tell what she was thinking.

"Haxorus!"

Black watched the dragon Pokémon appear, thinking carefully. What was White trying to do? The dragon had no type advantage over Samurott. Then again, her other remaining Pokémon probably didn't either…

But, at least Black still had a good move against them. "Samurott, use Ice Beam!"

Haxorus snarled as he was hit by the fiercely cold beam of ice. Once the attack was over he smashed the ice that had frozen on him with one arm.

"Haxorus, use Draco Meteor."

_Oh snap!_ Black instinctively jumped back as a bunch of rocks plummeted into the earth. Samurott tried to dodge them, but there were too many and he was hit, getting thrown across the clearing.

"Samurott!" Black cried. _That looked painful…_

For a moment, Samurott lay still. Then he gave a snarl and climbed unsteadily back to his feet.

"C'mon, Samurott, just hang on for a bit longer! You're doing great!" Black encouraged.

Haxorus glanced back at White, giving a quiet grumble. Yet the trainer wasn't even looking at him. Almost as if she was avoiding trying to…

_She's thinking of Zekrom,_ Black realised. _I don't know who I feel sorrier for, White or Haxorus…_

"Okay, Samurott, let's finish this. Use Ice Beam again!"

Samurott let out a fierce growl, sending another beam of ice shooting at Haxorus. This time, the dragon didn't put up much of a fight against the attack, and he fainted. After hesitating for a moment, White sent him back to his Pokéball.

"Sigilyph!" she called. "Let's win this battle!"

The Pokémon appeared with a chirp, floating in the air, her colourful feathers bright against the dull surroundings. Black considered using Ice Beam again, but he didn't even get a chance to give the orders.

"Sigilyph, use Energy Ball!"

Giving another chirping noise, Sigilyph sent a ball of green energy shooting towards Samurott. As he was hit by the grass-type attack, Samurott fainted. Black sent him back to his Pokéball.

"They've both got two Pokémon left now!" Bianca gasped, doing a little jump of anticipation. "This is exciting!"

"_I'm_ supposed to be announcing things here!" Cheren protested. "But you're right, on both occasions."

Black thought for a moment as what to do next. _Sigilyph is part Psychic. Lucario isn't weak to Psychic-type attacks thanks to being part steel… but hopefully this will work anyway._

He took one of the Pokéballs from his belt. "Go, Lucario!"

The blue-grey Pokémon appeared, flicking his tail slightly and letting out a grunt.

_I'll give them a chance to attack first. Now I just hope she chooses the right move…_

White blinked, obviously confused as to why he wasn't telling Lucario to attack just yet. "Sigilyph, use Psychic."

_Yes! She fell for it!_

Sigilyph released a wave of psychic energy that floated quickly across the clearing, heading straight for Lucario. Yet as the wave hit him, he didn't seem to be affected at all.

"What!?" White exclaimed in surprise.

Black couldn't help but grin. "Lucario, Night Daze!"

'Lucario' jumped forward slightly, slamming his forepaws onto the ground. Waves of dark energy spread through the clearing and Sigilyph let out a cry as she was hit by it. She nearly fell to the ground before righting herself at the last minute and flying back up.

"Hang on, Sigilyph!" White pleaded. "Use Air Slash!"

She'd seen through the trick this time. Sigilyph landed a fierce slash on Lucario, and he was thrown backwards. Falling to the ground, Zoroark gave a snarl as his illusion vanished.

"Ooh, sneaky!" Bianca commented, hugging Musharna tightly in anticipation. The psychic Pokémon let out a cooing noise; even she seemed to be watching the battle.

"Zoroark, use Night Daze again!"

Zoroark nodded, climbing back up. He sent another dark wave through the clearing, and this time Sigilyph fainted.

White was starting to look increasingly worried now. She took the last Pokéball from her belt. "Go, Emboar!"

Emboar landed heavily on the ground as he appeared, letting out a ferocious roar. Flames billowed from his neck fur, and smoke spread from his nose as he snorted.

_Here we go; the final battle,_ Black thought to himself. "Zoroark, use Dig!"

"Emboar, Flamethrower!"

Zoroark's claws scrabbled on the ground as he hurriedly dug a hole under the clearing. Emboar unleashed a stream of flames towards him but Zoroark managed to dig his way under the ground in time and avoid the attack.

For a moment, everything was silent in the clearing. White was watching the ground carefully, waiting for Zoroark to re-appear.

Then suddenly there was an explosion of earth right next to Emboar. The fire Pokémon let out a snarl as he was hit by Zoroark.

"Emboar, use Arm Thrust! Quickly!"

Zoroark let out a yelp as he was punched by Emboar. Just one hit was enough to bring him down, and he collapsed on the dusty ground, fainted.

"Zoroark, get back!" Black called, sending him back to his Pokéball. _Well, only one option now._ "Let's go, Lucario!"

The real Lucario appeared this time, giving a quiet grumble and twitching one ear as he watched Emboar curiously.

"They both have one Pokémon left now," Cheren announced. "It looks like it's all come down to this."

Bianca let out an excited squeal. Musharna gave a quiet wail of protest as she hugged her Pokémon even tighter.

"Emboar, use Arm Thrust!"

_Ack! No!_ "Lucario!" Black shouted.

Emboar sped towards Lucario, swinging his arm, ready to attack the smaller Pokémon. Lucario was weak to fighting-type attacks. It looked like this battle was over.

Yet just as Emboar was about to hit him, Lucario jumped to avoid the attack, and Emboar ended up punching the air instead. He let out an irritated snort as he regained his balance.

"Yes!" Black cheered. No time to waste. "Lucario! Use Earthquake!"

The aura Pokémon was still mid-air from avoiding Emboar's attack. Upon hearing Black's words he gave a quick nod, and as he landed he slammed his hind legs on the ground, causing a shock wave to vibrate through the clearing.

"Emboar!" White cried.

The fire Pokémon didn't stand a chance against the powerful ground-type attack. As soon as the earthquake stopped, he fell heavily to the ground, stirring up a cloud of dust.

Black just stared at the fainted Pokémon for a moment. It took a moment for this to sink in.

_I won? I actually _won_!?_

"White has no more Pokémon able to battle," Cheren announced, returning Watchog to his Pokéball now that the danger of accidentally getting hit by an attack was over. "Therefore, Black is the winner!"

"Lucario… that was amazing!" Black grinned, holding up his hand. Lucario reached up to give him a high five.

Now that he'd had his moment of victory, Black glanced over at White. Wordlessly, she returned Emboar to his Pokéball.

"Hey," Black said, walking over to her. He held out his hand. "That was a good battle. You're amazing!"

"I…" White blinked, looking somewhat surprised. "Thanks…" she shook his hand, forcing a half-hearted smile.

Yet Black was confused. There was still something wrong; he just couldn't tell what. She still looked… depressed. Not the kind of defiance someone had for just losing a Pokémon battle, something else…

"White?" he asked. "You sure you're okay?"

For a moment, she didn't reply. Then she drew her hand back, looking up at him with such a frustration-filled glare that he had to step away. "Why does everyone keep asking me that?" she snapped. "I've already told all of you, I'm fine!"

With that said, she turned and stormed off.

"White!?" Black called, dumbfounded. "Hey, wait—"

He was about to go after her, but Cheren grabbed his shoulder, stopping him.

"Just let her go," he sighed. "She'll calm down if we leave her alone for a while."

"I don't get it," Black muttered. "What's the matter with her? Is she just mad at me because I won…?"

"No. White isn't like that," Cheren shook his head. "She's not mad at you; she's mad at herself. I have a hunch that the reason she challenged you to a battle was because she's lost a lot of self-confidence after what happened with Team Plasma."

"Oh…" Black said, realisation hitting him like a slap in the face. "Um… maybe I should go apologise…"

"I'd wait ten minutes if I were you," Cheren said wryly. "Well, that's if we can find where she's run off to."

* * *

White let out a long sigh. After shouting at Black – she'd have to apologise for that later – she had made her way across the city, trying her best to avoid everyone. Now she'd arrived at the Dreamyard. Thankfully there was nobody else here. For a while at least, she just wanted to be alone…

It was just as quiet here as she remembered. Just like before, the whole area looked slightly run-down, but as far as she was concerned that only made the place even more peaceful.

Right now, White wasn't entirely sure how she felt about the battle. Mainly she was just disappointed. When they'd been fighting Team Plasma, she'd seemed to be having the most trouble out of the three of them. She thought that if she could defeat Black in a battle, maybe it would have just been bad luck… but no, even without overpowered Pokémon like Team Plasma, she still couldn't beat him. She couldn't beat Team Plasma simply because she was too weak.

Even N had managed to beat a member of the shadow triad, and he only had Reshiram with him. Although she didn't dare challenge him; she'd only be faced with a lecture of all the reasons he was against 'pointless' Pokémon battles…

Noticing some movement in the corner of her eye, White glanced over at the gap in the crumbling wall to see a Munna watching her curiously. Once it realised she'd noticed it, it let out a surprised cooing noise, floating back slightly. Then it bravely ventured out, realising she wasn't going to hurt it.

"Hey there," White said quietly, holding out her hand. The Munna floated over to her, giving her a wary glance at first. Then it nudged her hand, letting out a happy chirp. White couldn't help but smile.

Then suddenly the Munna glanced around, giving a quiet _eep_ and darting away, as if something had startled it.

"Huh…?" White blinked. She hadn't done anything to scare it. _Wait…_

She gasped as suddenly someone grabbed her arm. White glanced around quickly, half expecting to see Black. Yet instead she saw someone wearing a dark outfit, glaring at her.

One of the Team Plasma grunts.

"Hey! What—" she started, but broke off as she was pulled back and restrained.

"Got her!" the grunt called.

A moment later another grunt appeared from somewhere nearby. "Good job."

"What do you want!? Let me go!" White cried, struggling to escape. Despite how harmless they seemed, the grunts were stronger than they looked. Why hadn't she healed her Pokémon before coming out here?

"Shut up, brat!" the second grunt snapped, hitting her in the stomach. The whole world went black for a moment and her legs gave way beneath her, but she managed to force herself to stay conscious.

Once her senses returned a few seconds later, she realised that the second grunt had taken something from her bag. It took a moment for her to register what it was.

_Reshiram's Pokéball!_

"No, wait!" White shouted, but she couldn't do anything. She was still partially dazed from being hit. _N will never forgive me if I let Team Plasma steal Reshiram!_

"What the—" the grunt said suddenly as the Pokéball started to shake madly. He dropped it out of shock as light split from it.

Reshiram broke out of her Pokéball, letting out a furious ear-splitting roar at Team Plasma. It was almost as if she'd sensed that there was danger nearby.

"Ack!" the first grunt gasped, letting go of White at last. Still dazed, she collapsed on the ground. Both of the grunts backed away from the dragon, looking petrified.

Taking a step towards the grunts, Reshiram gave a threatening growl, the turbine in her tail blazing with fire.

"What should we do now!?" the first grunt asked.

"I'm not crazy enough to actually try and _fight_ that thing!" the second one cried. "Let's get out of here!"

And with that, the two of them raced away.

Once they were a safe distance away, Reshiram gave a snort of contempt, blue eyes narrowing for a moment. Then she reached down and nudged White's shoulder, letting out a quiet grumble, as if to check she was okay.

"No!" White screamed, burying her face in her arms. "Stay away from me!"

Reshiram backed away slightly, blinking in confusion.

White couldn't even look at her. Not after what had happened to Zekrom. The pain was still too fresh, and there was nothing she could do to make it go away…

And now she'd nearly let Reshiram get stolen by Team Plasma. How much more useless could she get?

"White!"

She heard Cheren call her name from nearby, footsteps heading towards her, but she didn't make any attempt to reply. She didn't even know if she could. Right now, the only thing she could do was lie here, choking on the tears she'd kept inside for far too long.


	13. Pessimistic

"Come _on_, Reshiram! Just get back inside the Pokéball already!" Black ordered impatiently, holding the sphere up to the dragon.

Reshiram just let out a huff, turning her head away.

"If you don't, Team Plasma is more likely to find you," he pointed out. "N nearly got himself killed trying to protect you last time, geez!" He rolled his eyes. "Fine, if you're just going to be an annoying stuck-up dragon, go ahead."

At the mention of N, Reshiram glanced at the ground for a moment. Then she looked back over at the Pokéball.

"Geez, he keeps you out of this thing way too much. It's no surprise you managed to break out," Black tutted. He glanced past the dragon. "Hey, what's that?"

Reshiram glanced around, letting out a grumble as she tried to see what he was looking at.

"Ha!" Black shouted, throwing the Pokéball at her. Reshiram looked pretty surprised as she was pulled back into it. Once the Pokéball landed on the ground, Black went to pick it up. Then he glanced back over at the others.

They'd heard the roar from all the way on the other side of the city, and instantly they'd known that something was wrong. Black, Cheren and Bianca had hurried to the Dreamyard to find a couple of Team Plasma grunts running for their lives, and Reshiram standing next to White who had been collapsed on the floor, crying.

Right now, Cheren and Bianca were sat with her on a wide tree stump at the edge of the clearing. White was still crying, unable to stop the tears rolling down her face. Bianca hugged her tightly, almost like a mother trying to comfort their child.

"Those Team Plasma grunts didn't hurt you, did they?" Cheren asked, looking concerned.

For a moment, White didn't reply. Her eyes were swollen from crying and when she finally spoke her voice still wavered slightly. "One of them hit me in the stomach, but… I-I'm fine now…"

"Aw, cheer up, White!" Bianca said kindly. "I know something's upsetting you; it's okay, you can tell us. We're your friends!"

"It doesn't matter. You wouldn't understand."

"If it's about Zekrom—" Cheren started, but he didn't get to finish his sentence.

"It's not just Zekrom! I know he's not coming back and there's nothing I can do about it, and if that was all I had to deal with I might be able to manage, but…" she broke off, sobbing.

Cheren let out a quiet sigh, resting his hand on her shoulder. "White, it's okay…"

"No! Nothing's okay!" she wailed. "I-It's all my fault… I was the one who suggested we go and fight Team Plasma… and when Black and N got hurt, I… I couldn't even do anything, I… a-and then Zekrom… I can't do anything right…!"

Cheren and Bianca exchanged a glance.

"C'mon, White, don't be ridiculous!"

"Black," Cheren warned, fixing him with a stern glare.

Black ignored him. "It's not your fault we got hurt! If anyone's to blame, it's Team Plasma. Besides, we _all_ decided to try and fight them; it's not as if any of us knew what was going to happen."

"But I—"

"And don't beat yourself up for not doing anything to help either. I doubt there's anything anyone would be able to do in a situation like that. Besides, I'm okay now, and N will be fine once he stops sulking."

"Not Zekrom. And I nearly got Reshiram captured too…"

"But you didn't, right? Reshiram's still here. It's not your fault if you get attacked by Team Plasma."

White let out a long sigh. At least she seemed to be recovering from the shock at last. "I should be able to defend myself, though. I'm not strong enough to beat Team Plasma."

"I don't think anyone is anymore. Not since all their Pokémon became crazily overpowered…"

"Wait, that's it! I got it!" Cheren said suddenly.

"Huh?" Black exclaimed. "Got what? Whatever it is, I don't wanna catch it."

Cheren gave him an unimpressed glance. Then he looked back at White. "I know how we can defeat Team Plasma."

"What? Really?" Bianca gasped.

"It won't work," White sighed. "Like Black said, nobody can beat them."

"It _will_ work, I promise," Cheren said confidently, giving her a quick hug before standing up. "Come to the fountain in Castelia City tomorrow afternoon, all three of you. If anyone else can help, bring them along too. 2PM sharp, okay?" With that said, he raced away.

"Hey, Cheren, wait!" Black called. "You still haven't told us what the plan is…"

_Too late. He's already gone._

White just watched him leave, still not looking totally convinced.

"Cheren's plans usually work," Bianca added confidently. "I'm sure we can defeat Team Plasma… um, probably…"

* * *

"Free at last!" N cheered as he finally left the hospital after two and a half days. He stretched, wincing slightly, although his injuries didn't seem to be bothering him too much anymore. That was probably why they'd finally let him go. Either that or they'd got fed up of him trying to find a way to break out.

"Well, that was great timing," Black commented. He'd only just arrived, but at least he wasn't going to have to go back inside the hospital building again. By now he was pretty much sick of that place. "Here, thought you might want this back."

N blinked in surprise as Black held out Reshiram's Pokéball. He took it, looking somewhat relieved.

"Just don't let her out just yet," Black warned hastily. "I mean, we're still right next to the hospital and there are still other patients in there, and Reshiram is kinda… loud…"

"Yeah, yeah, I know," N rolled his eyes.

"Right. Now let's go." Black turned and started to walk away.

"Wait, where are we going?"

"To find out where White is," Black shrugged. He hadn't seen her since yesterday morning; she'd told him to give Reshiram back to N when he got out of the hospital and then she'd just vanished. Already he'd tried calling her twice, but there was no answer. After her breakdown yesterday, Black had to admit he was at least slightly concerned…

"Why? Where did she go?" N asked, hurrying after him.

"If I knew that, I wouldn't be _looking_ for her," Black said pointedly. He decided it would probably be best not to tell him about what had happened yesterday with Team Plasma. "Anyway, Cheren seems to have come up with some master plan to defeat Team Plasma. He hasn't told me what it is, he just said for us to meet him by the Castelia fountain this afternoon."

"Oh, okay…" N blinked. "Do you think it'll work?"

"I wouldn't know. I guess we just gotta hope Cheren knows what he's doing."

There was a long silence.

"So… where exactly _are_ we going?" N spoke up at last.

"I have absolutely no idea," Black shrugged. "I'll try ringing White again."

He stopped walking for a moment, looking up the number on his Xtransciever. Once he found White's number he tried calling it, but like before it rang for ages and she never answered.

"Well, she's not answering," he sighed. He checked the time.

_10:00; we've got four hours to try and find her…_

"Hang on, I'll try calling Bianca," he muttered. He didn't know where Cheren had vanished to yesterday either, but he doubted the gym leader would be of much help right now.

Luckily, Bianca answered the call after only a few seconds. "Hello? Oh, Black!"

"Hey, Bianca," he greeted. "Do you know where White is?"

"Hmm? Oh, I haven't seen her this morning," Bianca shrugged. "I think she went back to Nuvema Town yesterday."

"Oh, okay. Thanks."

"See ya!" Bianca gave a quick wave before hanging up.

"Well then," Black stated, turning to face N. "Looks like we're heading to Nuvema Town."

* * *

It didn't take long for them to fly to the outskirts of Nuvema Town. As soon as Black hopped off of Braviary, Bianca hurried over to greet them.

"Hey! I was looking out for you guys," she smiled. "I thought you might come here since you were asking about White."

"Yeah," Black shrugged, returning Braviary to his Pokéball. "Why, do you know where she is?"

"I think so, but I thought I'd wait for you first," Bianca admitted. "C'mon!" She turned and hurried away towards the main part of the village.

N jumped down from Reshiram's back, casting a quick glance at the small settlement. Even he had realised that bringing a dragon inside the village would probably attract unwanted attention. "Reshiram, just stay here for a while, okay? Let me know if there's any trouble."

Reshiram nodded, letting out a quiet grumble.

_Typical N, not wanting to put Reshiram in her Pokéball for even five minutes, _Black thought silently. "We'd better catch up to Bianca."

The two of them headed deeper into the village. Bianca had initially vanished from sight, but once she realised that she'd left them behind she waited for Black and N to catch up. She led them to one of the houses at the edge of the village and knocked on the door.

While they waited for someone to answer, Black glanced around at the surrounding area. There was a view of the sea at the south of Unova from here, which reminded Black of his home in Aspertia City…

The door was opened by a woman who looked to be in her late thirties. She cast unrecognising glances at Black and N, but she clearly knew the blonde. "Oh, hello, Bianca. Are you looking for White?"

"Yup!" Bianca smiled. "Is she around?"

"She is, but she's been in her room all morning. You're welcome to come in, though," she held the door open for them. "See if you can get her to come down for breakfast, would you?"

"Okay," Bianca nodded. "Oh, by the way, this is Black and N."

"Hi!" Black waved.

N just gave a nervous smile, not really sure what to make of the situation.

"Nice to meet you," White's mother said politely. "I'm assuming you're friends with my daughter?"

"Yeah," Black replied. She didn't seem to know anything about what had been happening with Team Plasma lately. If that was the case, he definitely didn't want to be the one to tell her… otherwise White would have to put up with a worrying mum like he did.

"Hey guys, this way!" Bianca called, already standing by the staircase.

_You can tell they're childhood friends, _Black thought to himself with a smile as he followed her.

Once they reached the top of the stairs, Bianca practically burst through the door. "White!"

"What the hell, Bianca…?" White sounded tired, as if she'd only just woken up. She was still in bed. "What time is it…?"

"Time to get up; it's halfway through the morning," Bianca told her, sitting down on the edge of the mattress. White let out a groan of protest as that made the whole bed shake. "And besides, we need to go meet Cheren this afternoon."

"No. I'm not going."

"What!?" Black exclaimed.

"Okay, what the heck are you guys doing in my room?" White muttered, sitting up at last. Black couldn't help but notice that he barely recognised her; she looked a lot different with her hair down and without her hat on.

"Going to find you, that's what," Black stated innocently, holding up his arms in defence. "But what do you mean you're not going?"

"I mean _I'm not going_!" White huffed. "Isn't it obvious enough?"

_I guess even people like White are grumpy when they've just woken up. _"But Cheren has supposedly thought of a way for us to defeat Team Plasma; we need your help!"

"No you don't," she sighed, glancing away. "I won't be any use. I'll just screw something up again."

"Oh for the hundredth time, it's _not_ your fault that we got hurt!" Black walked over, grabbing White's shoulders to look her in the eye. "And you won't screw anything up. We need your help, White. You're one of the strongest trainers there are."

For a moment, there was a clear look of shock and distress in White's eyes. After a few seconds she pushed it away. "I… there's no way you can know that for sure. But fine, if you're just going to keep going on at me then I'll go. Even if it's just to find out what Cheren's idea is."

"Okay!" Black cheered. He let go of her shoulders, stepping back and running a hand through his hair in embarrassment. "Ehe… sorry…"

"If you want me to go with you guys now though, you'll have to go away first," White added meaningfully. "Just go wait outside; I'll be there in twenty minutes."

"Okay then," Black said simply. "C'mon, N, let's go." He grabbed his arm as he walked past.

"Huh? What?" N blinked somewhat obliviously as he was dragged out of the room.

Black couldn't help but laugh. "N, you are far too innocent."

* * *

White quickly checked her reflection in the window as she left the house. She'd guessed that her mother would practically force her to have breakfast before she left, so hopefully she wasn't much later than she'd said she would be.

It didn't take her long to find the others. Bianca had vanished by now, but Black was standing by the entrance to Route 1 waiting for her. Nearby, N and Reshiram were resting in the shade of one of the trees.

"Okay, I'm here," she said plainly as she reached them. "Now what?"

Black checked the time on his Xtransciever. "Well, it's half ten. We need to be in Castelia in three and a half hours, so for now we might as well kill some time. I have to go do something, though, so I'll meet you guys in Nimbasa City at twelve, okay?"

"Um… okay?" White blinked as Black released Braviary from his Pokéball, climbing onto the bird's back.

"See ya then!" Black waved as Braviary took off into the sky.

White watched him go until he was out of sight, still slightly dumbfounded.

"I think he's gone to meet his friend or something," N shrugged as he walked over to her. "I don't know, but that's what he was saying just now. C'mon, let's go!"

"What? Where?"

"Nimbasa, of course," N smiled. "I mean, I know Black said to meet us there in a few hours, but we might as well go there now."

"Oh… okay," White shrugged. She couldn't tell if everything was happening fast today or whether that was just because she hadn't even been awake for half an hour yet.

N called to Reshiram and the dragon wandered over, letting out a yawn. He climbed onto her back, patting the dragon's feathers and glancing over at White. "Coming? Reshiram won't mind; I doubt you're that heavy."

"I-I…" White stammered, taking a step back. She couldn't do it. Yesterday she hadn't even managed to be near Reshiram without completely breaking down. She couldn't fly on the dragon's back. "No, it's okay… I'll just walk…"

"Oh… o-okay… that's alright, I guess," N glanced away, sounding slightly disheartened. Yet White couldn't tell him that it was Reshiram that was the problem… that'd probably just upset him even more. "Well, I'll see you there then. C'mon, Reshiram."

Giving a quiet grunt, Reshiram took off into the air.

_Great,_ White sighed as they vanished over the trees. _I can't even avoid upsetting my friends. How am I supposed to help defeat Team Plasma when all I do is let people get hurt?_


	14. Nostalgia

**DID I HEAR SOMEONE ASK FOR A FERRIS WHEEL**

**Totally forgot to upload a chapter this week, oops... on the bright side, there's now the option to add more main characters to stories, so N is no longer left out! Yay!**

**Although I have no idea how that works because so far it doesn't seem to change anything...**

* * *

White quickly shook the sand from her hair once she reached the tunnel to Nimbasa City. There had been a sandstorm raging on Route 4 as usual. Yet White actually hadn't minded the walk here – she'd needed time to herself without anyone worrying over her, whether it was her mother or her friends.

At first, she hadn't understood why that had been annoying her. But now at long last she had realised. To her, it felt like her friends getting hurt was her fault, and then everyone just seemed to be worried about _her_ instead…

Maybe she was just being selfish. Sitting around feeling sorry for herself wouldn't help them defeat Team Plasma. But after how badly she'd done in the fight against that shadow, it didn't feel like there was much she could do to help in the first place…

Once she emerged into the city, everything was so bright she had to hold a hand up to shield her eyes. The sun was almost patronising.

_Now I just need to work out how to find where N's got to…_

"Hey White!"

"Ah!" she gasped as suddenly N appeared out of nowhere beside her. "Don't creep up on me like that…"

"Oh, sorry," he grinned sheepishly.

Reshiram was nowhere in sight. _He's put her inside her Pokéball for once. I'm almost impressed._ "Well, we're here and Black won't be meeting us for another hour. Now what?"

"Well, um… a-actually, I… I was wondering…" N nervously glanced away at the ground for a moment as if trying to phrase his sentence. Then he glanced back at her. "Would… I mean, do you want to ride the Ferris wheel?"

"Huh?" White blinked. "That's what you dragged me all the way out here for?"

"Oh… i-it's okay if you don't want to… I just thought…"

"No, no, I do, honestly," White forced herself to smile. She knew that she'd already hurt him once today – and besides, it had been a long time since she'd been on the Ferris wheel, so why not.

"Great! I-I mean, thank you," N beamed.

* * *

"It looks like we made it here in time, Braviary!" Black commented as they flew over Castelia City. The bird floated lower as they arrived at one of the piers, slowing to land. Once he was within a safe distance of the ground, Black jumped down from Braviary's back, holding one hand up to shield his eyes from the sun and the gleam of the water.

He walked over to the edge of the pier, Braviary wandering after him and hopping up to stand on the railing as if it were a perch. Black could see the small boat from Virbank City on the horizon. Earlier that day, he'd called Hugh to tell him to get over here as soon as he could. Cheren had told them to bring along anyone who could help them against Team Plasma, and besides, Black still needed to return Hugh's Pokémon to him.

"Think he managed to get on the boat in time? You probably have better eyesight than me," Black laughed.

Braviary had been stood grooming his feathers. He glanced up, looking over at the boat. Then he let out a screech, flapping his wings.

"Guess I'll take that as a yes," Black shrugged, picking up a stray feather than had landed in his hair. He dropped it on the surface of the water below, watching it float on the waves. Giving a sigh, he leant against the railing. "We might be waiting here a while…"

He attempted to pass the time by playing I Spy, but that didn't really work on your own or with an animal that couldn't talk. After ten minutes, Black was nearly falling asleep until he was brought back to his senses by a loud ship horn. Braviary looked quite surprised too; he nearly fell off the railing as the noise echoed around.

"Oh, finally!" Black exclaimed in relief as the ship drifted up to the dock. "Now we just have to find Hugh."

Black returned Braviary to his Pokéball as a dozen passengers left the boat. Where was Hugh? It was hard to single out anyone in the crowd of people…

"Hey! I said, _excuse me_!"

Black couldn't help but laugh as Hugh barged past a couple of rather surprised-looking passengers who clearly hadn't heard him the first time. _Well, found him._

"Sheesh, rude!" Hugh tutted as he walked over. "Hey, Black," he said at last, holding up his hand.

"Hey," Black replied, giving him a high-five. "Anything new in the west?"

"Haven't seen Team Plasma since you left," Hugh shrugged. "So I guess you must have taken all the trouble with you."

"Hah, definitely."

"So, what happened? You said I needed to get out here as soon as possible."

"Well, long story short," Black said casually. "We attempted to fight Team Plasma and failed pretty badly. Oh, and I discovered that having a Seviper's fangs through your shoulder is a whole lot more painful than any time we've ever got into a fistfight."

"Wait, what!?" Hugh exclaimed, looking somewhat shocked.

"Okay, I'll explain what happened. But maybe we should go somewhere else first. We might as well make our way to Nimbasa City since I told White and N to meet us there in an hour. Besides, I don't know if many people in Unova even know that Team Plasma is back, so it's probably best if people don't overhear us."

* * *

White could remember a time when she'd have been really excited over a fairground ride. Yet right now, as the Ferris wheel arced slowly into the sky, she found herself staring aimlessly out of the window at the clouds above.

She was still trying to work out what Cheren's plan might be. She hadn't seen him since he vanished yesterday, but knowing Cheren it should at least be something reliable.

Would they even need her help? She couldn't even defeat Black in a Pokémon battle, let alone Team Plasma and their overpowered Pokémon…

Giving a quiet sigh, White realised that it might be better if she just left them to it. She'd probably just be a burden.

"White…? I… I'm sorry…"

"Huh?" White blinked, glancing over at N who was sat on the other side of the Ferris wheel car. "What are you apologising for…?"

"I-I thought that riding the Ferris wheel might cheer you up," N sighed, staring at the floor. "But it hasn't. I'm sorry… I can name every element in the periodic table, but… I have no idea how to make people happy…"

"N…" White murmured. "It's okay. You don't have to worry about me. I'm fine, honestly."

"You aren't, though… yesterday… y-you were crying…"

White blinked in surprise. "Wait, how do you know that? Who told you?" _If it was Black, I swear…_

"Reshiram," N shrugged.

"Oh… right…" White had completely forgotten that N could talk to Pokémon.

"She told me about Zekrom too…" N said quietly, glancing up at her at last. White hadn't noticed before, but now that the roof of the car provided some shade from the sun, she could see that his eyes were swollen slightly, as if he'd been crying recently. "White, I'm so sorry… I just… I… I don't know what to do… I don't like it when you're upset…"

Being careful not to hit her head on the roof of the car, White moved over to sit next to him instead. "N, you don't need to keep apologising. It's not your fault," she assured, giving a half-hearted smile. "I guess if anyone should apologise then it's me. I've just been sulking for the past few days without thinking about whether it affected anyone else. I'm sorry."

"I-it's okay," N smiled, his blue-grey eyes still clearly showing his distress but he was trying to push it aside. He cast a quick glance out the window. The Ferris wheel had nearly reached the ground by now. "How long until we have to go meet the others?"

"Dunno," White shrugged. She wasn't wearing her Xtransciever and she didn't feel like hunting through her bag to find it. "At least half an hour."

"Oh… well, what d'you want to do now? I'm all out of ideas," N laughed.

"We could go find something to eat?" White suggested. "I dunno about you, but I'm starving."

N blinked in surprise. "Didn't you just have breakfast?"

"Hey, I've barely eaten anything for three days!" White protested with a laugh, nudging his shoulder. "I'm sure there must be someplace to get food in a city this big."

* * *

"C'mon, Lucario, just get down from there already. I don't know how you can sense anything in a city this crowded."

Black looked up at the aura Pokémon, who was standing on top of the tunnel back out to Route 4, scanning Nimbasa City. Assumingly he wanted to help them find the others, but there were an awful lot of people and other distractions in the city. At Black's words, he gave a quiet sigh, jumping down and landing lightly on the ground next to them.

"Who exactly are we looking for, anyway?" Hugh asked. Serperior was nearby, the ear-like leaves on his head twitching as he glanced around at the city. He seemed pleased to be back with his trainer, at least.

"White and N," Black shrugged. "They're the people I was fighting Team Plasma with. I said to meet them in the city about now, so they should be around here somewhere."

"Oh, okay," Hugh muttered. "So how do we find them?"

"Well…" Black tried to come up with a description. "White's a Pokémon trainer… N is kinda… different…"

"You're not very good at this, are you," Hugh pointed out, an amused smile on his face.

Black held up his hands in mock defence. "I tried. Eh, let's just look around; I'm sure we'll find them eventually."

They spent five minutes wandering the streets of the city, their search seeming pretty hopeless until suddenly Lucario nudged Black's arm as if he were telling them to stop. He glanced over in the direction of the gym, letting out a quiet grumble.

"That way?" Black asked.

Lucario nodded.

"Well, if you say so…" he shrugged. Usually he'd have a lot of faith in Lucario's sensing abilities, but in a place as busy as the city he wasn't so sure.

As they crossed over the bridge to the small amusement park, Black considered how quiet it was in this corner of the city when Elesa wasn't holding one of her fashion shows. There was hardly anyone here.

"Hey, Black!"

"Hm?" he glanced over to see White waving to him. "Oh, hey guys."

Over on the grass, White and Sigilyph had gathered an armful of berries from one of the trees. All of her Pokémon were out, enjoying the fresh air. Zebstrika was racing around on the grass and Excadrill looked hopefully up at White until the trainer gave her one of the berries. At the edge of the grassy clearing, N was sat with Reshiram – the dragon was trying her best to remain dignified despite the fact that the teen was offering food to her. Eventually she gave in, taking the berry from his hand and chewing it happily.

"We found some berries, so we thought we'd let the Pokémon out while we waited for you to get here," White shrugged. She threw one to him as he walked over. "Here, catch."

Black just about managed to catch the berry. "Thanks. Here ya go, Lucario."

Lucario took the berry from him, casually wiping it on his fur to clean it before taking a bite out of it, his ears twitching contentedly.

White turned to Haxorus, who'd been hanging back slightly. Yet as she held out one of the berries on her hand he walked over to take it from her. She patted his nose.

_It looks like White's finally recovering as well, _Black mused, though he didn't say anything out loud. _She isn't ignoring Haxorus anymore and she's even okay with Reshiram being out here._

"C'mon, you lot, go join 'em," Black called, letting his Pokémon out as well. Instantly Arcanine's attention was on the berries – if there was food around, that dog would make a beeline for it. Zoroark wandered over to join N and Reshiram, whereas Samurott seemed happy enough to just sit and groom his fur. Black cast a glance behind him. "Hey Hugh, come over here!"

"Huh?" the blue-haired boy muttered. He walked over to join them. "Oh, so this is who we were looking for."

"Yeah. Meet White and N," Black shrugged.

"Hi!" White smiled, holding out her free hand whilst also trying to fend off Arcanine who obviously wanted the fruit she was holding.

"Hey. I'm Hugh. Y'know, if you hadn't realised that already." He shook her hand.

"White," she told him.

Hugh looked around as N wandered over to them at last, Zoroark trotting behind him. "So you must be N, right?"

"Um, yeah… hello…" N replied, sounding somewhat nervous as usual.

"Huh. Y'know, your name sounds familiar somehow."

"To be fair, it _is_ in the alphabet," Black pointed out with a laugh. As soon as he'd said that he glanced at N to make sure the comment hadn't offended him, but for once he seemed to have realised it was a joke and gave a half-hearted smile.

"Well, since you guys are here now I guess we're not waiting for anyone else," White commented, giving the last of the berries she was holding to Serperior who'd been eyeing them for a while now. "You two had lunch yet?"

"Yeah, we grabbed some food on the way here," Black shrugged.

"Well, we have two hours until we have to meet Cheren in Castelia, and he'll probably go off on one of his lectures if we're late," White mused. "So what now?"

"Actually, I wouldn't mind heading over to Driftveil City," Hugh spoke up. "I haven't been over here in the main part of Unova for a while."

"Why not," Black shrugged.

White nodded, glancing over at where Arcanine was chasing Zebstrika around the clearing. "Sure, if we can ever catch our Pokémon."


	15. Old Faces

**Alternate title: The Sassy Scientist**

**Gonna take a moment to thank the whole, like, one of you that actually post reviews on this thing rofl. As for everyone else I don't know whether you guys don't like the story or whether you're just all really shy and quiet, but thanks for reading anyways ^^**

**Hugh is the expert in making friends.**

* * *

Black kept an eye out for any wild Pokémon as the four of them headed along Route 5. The last time he'd been through here, there had hardly been any life at all – and it seemed that not much had changed since then. There was no rustling in the grass and without the caravan parked at the side of the road everything seemed oddly quiet.

They'd headed out here once they'd returned all their Pokémon to their Pokéballs – including Reshiram, for once. The sun here was still just as bright as in Nimbasa, but at least it wasn't as blinding without all the buildings reflecting the light and there was some shade from the trees.

"So, Cheren has some plan to help defeat Team Plasma, right?" Hugh checked, walking along beside him. "Has he said what it is?"

"Nope," Black shrugged. "He said he had an idea, told us to meet him in Castelia and then just vanished, and none of us have seen him since."

"Well, that's helpful," Hugh rolled his eyes. "Team Plasma and their darn schemes are really starting to piss me off."

"Same," Black muttered. "Since we have no idea what Cheren's plan is, we have no idea what the chances are of it actually working."

"That's just great," Hugh sighed. "I'm starting to think we should just give them a taste of their own medicine. If they're going to start killing off our Pokémon then maybe we should just storm the place and kill theirs instead."

Black froze mid-step. "Um, Hugh…"

"How… how could you say something like that?"

Hugh stopped walking and turned around as he heard N's outburst. "What?"

_Oh boy…_

"How could you even think of doing something like that!?" N repeated, looking horrified.

"Why? They might as well get what's coming to them," Hugh tutted.

"That's not the point!" N snapped. He stepped forward to stand in front of Hugh. "It's Team Plasma's fault that all this is happening, not the Pokémon they're forcing to work for them! And now you're saying we should just start killing innocent Pokémon!? You're not better than Team Plasma are!"

Black took a step back. He'd never seen N look so angry before.

Much to his dismay, however, Hugh didn't seem phased. "It was just a suggestion."

"Only a heartless person would suggest something like that!"

"It was only an idea, geez!" Hugh shouted, glaring at him. "No need to bite my head off!"

"That's not even physically possible!"

"It's physically possible for me to punch you in the face if that's what you want!"

"Um, Black?" White threw him an alarmed look.

"Guys, guys!" Black interrupted, forcing his way between them and pushing Hugh back slightly so that he wouldn't hit anyone. "Not the time to be fighting…"

"Why are you looking at _me_?" Hugh exclaimed. "I'm just defending myself here!"

"I'm defending the innocent Pokémon he's suggesting we _kill_!" N cried.

"We're not killing anything, okay?" Black stated, desperately trying to stop them from arguing. "Just… don't mind Hugh, he didn't really mean what he said." He threw him a meaningful glance.

Hugh just responded with a frustrated huff. "Screw this, I'm going on ahead."

"Oh… okay," Black shrugged. "We'll meet you in a bit…"

"See ya," Hugh muttered quickly before racing away across the drawbridge.

Black breathed a sigh of somewhat relief. That hadn't ended exactly the way he'd hoped, but at least now there wouldn't be a fight…

"I don't understand…" N said quietly. He looked as if he was on the verge of crying. "I-I was just standing up for the Pokémon, I… I didn't do anything wrong, why'd… why did he say he was going to hit me…?"

"Hugh is kinda… violent sometimes…" Black replied sheepishly, running a hand through his hair. "He has a tendency to get into fights… you don't want to pick a fight with him, trust me. It's painful."

"But… I just… it seemed horrible for him to suggest something like that…"

"He didn't really mean it, honestly," Black sighed. "Hugh might be an idiot sometimes but he's not heartless. You should have seen how hard he fought to get his little sister's Purrloin back when Team Plasma stole it from her."

For a moment, N didn't say anything. Then he glanced away at the ground. "Sorry…"

"Don't apologise to me," Black shook his head. "Although, if I were you, I'd stay away from Hugh for a while. He does tend to hold grudges."

"Maybe we should keep going," White muttered, glancing in the direction of Driftveil.

"Yeah," Black shrugged. "Don't worry, though, I'll deal with Hugh. I bet I know where he's gone."

* * *

Hugh was still fuming once he reached the large building at the north of Driftveil City, but he took a deep breath and tried to push that anger aside. Slightly calmer now, he made his way through the door of the building.

As usual, there were a lot of people gathered inside. Most of them were travellers, but there were a few who often stayed there. A couple of Pokémon milled around as well.

"Why, Hugh! It must have been months!"

He glanced around as he heard his name, eventually noticing the former sage standing by the window. "Oh, hey Rood." He walked over.

"I haven't seen you or your friend in a while," Rood mused. "What brings you here?"

"Ah… nothing much," Hugh shrugged, deciding there was no point explaining what had just happened. Suddenly something hit his leg and he glanced down to see a Scraggy falling backwards after running head-first into him. It got back to its feet, pulling its malted skin up to its neck and glancing around.

"Oh, sorry!" someone gasped. One of the former Team Plasma members hurried over, picking up Scraggy and putting it down a few feet away where it started charging around again.

"It's okay," Hugh shrugged.

"Even after we left, Scraggy is still really clumsy sometimes," the former grunt explained apologetically, watching the Scraggy racing around the room with an affectionate smile.

"You must really like Pokémon, huh," Hugh said quietly. "Is that why you left Team Plasma?"

"Yeah. Team Plasma had always been split between those that actually liked Pokémon and wanted to save them and those that were only there for the power. Once our lord N left, everyone went their separate ways. I don't know if the rest of Team Plasma is still going."

"They are; they've been causing even more trouble lately," Hugh sighed. Then he froze. "Wait; did you just say _lord_ N? That guy was your _leader_!?"

"Yes, why? Have you met him?" Rood asked, seeming surprised.

"_Met_ him? The damn idiot practically attacked me," he huffed.

Rood blinked, looking slightly baffled. "That doesn't sound like something lord N would… well…"

"He'd shout at the grunts sometimes if he thought they were pushing their Pokémon too hard," the former grunt added. "He can get rather… worked up, I guess, if he thinks someone is hurting Pokémon."

"You're telling me," Hugh muttered.

"Why? Surely you weren't bringing harm to any Pokémon?" Rood questioned.

"No, of course not!" Hugh protested. "I just stated an idea… which I guess looking back on it could have seemed that way…" He trailed off.

_Oh well. I'm not apologising just because I suggested something. There are more important things to worry about right now, like what to do about Team Plasma._

* * *

Once they reached Driftveil City, White walked on ahead slightly, wondering if there was anything she wanted to do here. Maybe they could check out the market. All she knew was, after Black had narrowly avoided the others getting into a fight, he was probably going to go and look for Hugh, and White didn't want to leave N on his own. He looked even more nervous than usual after that argument.

"So, what now?" White asked, glancing back. "They changed the Cold Storage since two years ago, right?"

"Hm? Oh, right," Black nodded. "Yeah, they built the Pokémon World Tournament place there now."

"Sounds interesting," White commented. "Maybe in a bit we should go check it out–!"

She broke off suddenly as she walked straight into someone who had been heading around the corner. Hurriedly she stepped back.

"Sorry, sorry, I wasn't watching where I was…" she trailed off. "Going…?"

The person she'd walked into was at least two feet taller than her, dressed in a white lab coat. The sunlight reflecting off his glasses meant that she couldn't see his eyes and there was an odd swirl of blue hair that curved from his fringe.

White took another step back, unnerved slightly.

"Quite alright," the stranger replied, glancing down at her. "Happens to everyone."

"Colress?" Black exclaimed. "What're you doing here?"

"Hm?" Colress glanced over, as if he hadn't noticed anyone else was there. "Oh, Black. I haven't seen you in a long time. And to answer your question, I'm looking for reasoning behind the lack of wild Pokémon in the area."

"I'm assuming you know this guy," White muttered, glancing at Black.

"Yeah, he used to work for Team Plasma when me and Hugh were fighting them," Black shrugged. "Uh… you don't work for them anymore, right…?"

"Of course not," Colress stated matter-of-factly. "Tedious bunch. I was intending to discover how to bring out the full potential of Pokémon, and they insist on using my skills to try and freeze Unova. Quite a nerve, if you ask me."

"Okay, that's… good…" White replied uneasily.

"When you say trying to bring out the full potential in Pokémon… y-you're not hurting them, are you?" N asked at last, sounding concerned.

"What? No, of course not." Colress gave him a thoughtful glance for a moment. "If you don't mind my asking, who are you?"

"U-um… my name's N…"

"Hmm, interesting," Colress mused. He walked over to the green-hared teen who was starting to look even more unnerved than White was as he glanced away at the ground. "I heard about you when I was working with Team Plasma. You're the boy who can speak to Pokémon, correct?" He put his hands on N's shoulders as if trying to force him to make eye contact for once.

The second he did so, N let out a surprised yelp and batted the scientist's arms away, escaping from his grip and running over to hide behind White, looking terrified. She cast him a sympathetic glance.

Colress was left looking somewhat surprised at N's overreaction. He glanced towards Black.

"You get used to him after a while," he shrugged.

"I see," Colress muttered. "Though I have to admit, it would be good to have help from someone with the ability to communicate with Pokémon. Perhaps then it would be easier to decipher what has been going on recently. The wild Pokémon in Unova seem to be unusually sparse."

"Well, you could have just asked," White pointed out dryly.

"Why? Do you three know something?"

"If 'something' includes exactly who's responsible and what they plan to do, then sure," Black added sarcastically. Obviously knowing that Colress was going to ask him anyway, he continued. "It's Team Plasma again. We've tried to fight them but their Pokémon are madly powerful."

"Really?" Colress blinked. "Define 'powerful'."

"Just… overpowered?" Black said somewhat helplessly. "Like… uhh…"

"They can stand up to powerful super effective attacks," White explained for him. "And their own attacks do bad damage even when it's a Pokémon that seems to be low-levelled, so it's not as if they've just been training them…"

"So they appear to be unexplainably powerful, huh…" Colress mumbled thoughtfully. "This sounds familiar. A few months ago I was working on developing technology that could do such a thing. It was created but I never got a chance to test it out."

"Technology?" White echoed. "But… these are Pokémon, not computers…"

"On the contrary, they may be living beings but that does not mean they are immune to the powers of technology. You look to be a trainer; I'll assume you are familiar with Technical Machines. It's almost like that, you could say. The Pokémon is injected with a metal chip which can be used to boost their attack and defence as much as desired. That seems to be the most obvious way Team Plasma could be achieving such power."

"That seems far too easy," Black muttered. "I mean, wouldn't that just be cheating? Making Pokémon stronger without training or anything."

"Well, since I never actually tested out that method, we can't be certain," Colress explained. "But I should imagine something like that would put a large amount of pressure on a Pokémon if used to amplify their power too much. What kind of damage that would do, I'm not sure."

"That's terrible…" White breathed. Almost afraid to see how he was taking in all this information, White glanced over at N. He looked more horrified than ever and she could tell that he was trembling slightly.

"Is there any way to like… stop the chips from working?" Black asked. Even he sounded somewhat horror-struck.

"Only if you can gain access to the computers storing the information," Colress shrugged. "Even then it would be a complicated process, especially for someone who doesn't know what they're doing."

Everyone was silent for a moment.

"But… you'd be able to do it, right?" Black said hopefully. "You could shut those things off?"

"There is little chance of me being able to gain access to Team Plasma's technology base. They might have rather warped ideas on how to get by in the world but they aren't stupid enough to leave something that important where outsiders can reach it," the scientist pointed out, adjusting his glasses slightly.

"But what if you _could_ get to their computers? Would you be able to shut it off then?"

Colress raised an eyebrow, giving the trainer a questioning look. "What exactly are you implying here?"

Black cast a quick glance at White, silently asking whether it would be okay with her. She just shrugged. _You're the one who knows this guy. If you think he can help then it's up to you._

"Cheren said to meet us by the fountain in Castelia at 2PM today. He has some plan for how we can defeat Team Plasma. We don't know exactly what it is, but…"

"You want my help, I'm assuming," Colress finished Black's question for him. It was impossible to tell what he was thinking.

"Well… yeah, if it's no trouble," Black shrugged helplessly. "I mean, we don't know what Cheren's plan is, but he said to bring along anyone who we thought could help, so…"

"Say no more. I understand." Colress held up one arm as if telling him to be quiet. "Ordinarily I would say no, but it seems that Team Plasma is currently a threat to the Pokémon of Unova, and without Pokémon my research would be rendered pointless. If you believe that my help would be of great importance, then I am happy to oblige."

"Uh… okay!" Black grinned, obviously only having understood half of what the scientist just said. "Well, we told you where we're meeting already, right?"

"Fourteen hundred hours, Castelia fountain." Colress recalled simply. "If that's all, I'll see you there." Waiting a brief moment to see if anyone would say anything more, he turned and strode away.

Black watched him go. Then he turned to look at the others. "Well, we got some more help," he shrugged.

"Black," White muttered. "You sure know some strange people."


	16. Decisions

**And in this chapter we learn that Reshiram is a troll.**

**I bet like all of you probably guessed what Cheren's ULTIMATE PLAN was anyways, but if not, have a revelation. Whee.**

* * *

Leaving the others to go and check out the market, Black headed to the north of the city. He had a hunch that this was why Hugh had wanted to go to Driftveil. Sure enough, he found his friend sat at the edge of one of the low cliffs just outside the large building.

"So this is where you ran off to, huh," Black muttered, completely ignoring the stairs and instead attempting to scale the two metre-high grassy ledges – not very gracefully. Once he scrambled to the top of the second one, slightly grass stained, he flopped down onto the grassy verge. "Still sulking?"

Hugh's only response was a huff.

"Guess that's a yes then," Black muttered, staring up at the clouds. "Don't mind N. The only reason he shouted at you was because he's kinda overprotective of Pokémon."

"Oh, I hadn't noticed," Hugh grumbled sarcastically. "Of course, you take their side."

"I wasn't aware I was on anyone's side," Black shrugged, sitting up and flicking a leaf from his shoulder. "I was just trying to stop you from hitting him in the face."

"Yeah, well… that too…"

Black watched him for a moment. He raised an eyebrow. "Are you jealous?"

"What? No! Why would I be jealous of anyone?"

"Because I've been making new friends?" Black said pointedly. When Hugh didn't reply this time, he continued. "Don't worry, Hugh. You're still my best friend. Even if you are kind of a jerk sometimes."

"I guess you haven't changed after all," Hugh laughed. "Idiot."

"And you're still the same as ever too," Black grinned, slugging him in the arm. "Well, we can go and look for the others in the market or we can hang around and wait for them to come and find us. Since we had to hunt them down last time I say we do the latter. Besides, the market smells funny thanks to all the weird herbs they sell there."

"Well, there's half an hour at least to kill. What even is there to do here?"

"Uhh… how about I Spy?"

"No way."

* * *

"Oh, here you guys are, geez! We've been looking for you everywhere!" White exclaimed.

She'd spent the past ten minutes wandering around the city looking for Black and Hugh, N trailing behind as he wasn't really much help. Of course they'd been in the north of the city, the last place she'd thought to look.

"Sorry," Black apologised sheepishly. "Are we heading over to Castelia now?"

"Yeah, I guess," White shrugged. She still wasn't sure if there was any point in her helping with whatever this plan might be, but she'd at least go along and find out what it was.

"Okay then, let's go!" Black cheered. Braviary and Hugh's Unfezant were already out of their Pokéballs, perched in one of the trees nearby. "C'mon, Braviary!"

Hearing his trainer calling for him, Braviary let out a yawn, flapping his wings and flying over. Black jumped onto the bird's back as he flew past as if it was a rehearsed act.

"Last one there's a Slowpoke!" he grinned as the two of them vanished over the buildings.

"What's wrong with being a Slowpoke?" N blinked as Hugh vanished as well.

"Never mind, N," White said, biting back a laugh.

N just shrugged, as if he was getting used to not understanding most of the things Black said by now. "Okay… I should probably head out to Route 6 before letting Reshiram out," he added as an afterthought.

"Probably," White mumbled, glancing around at the buildings. "Well, guess I better get going. Sigilyph knows Fly, but… well, she's not exactly the strongest Pokémon ever. That's why…" she trailed off. _That's why I'd always fly with Zekrom._

"Why don't you come with me and Reshiram?" N asked, a slight nervous and maybe even confused hint to his voice after how she'd acted earlier.

"I-I…" White started, not even knowing how she'd intended to finish her sentence. Some kind of emotion must have shown on her face because N stepped back slightly, glancing away at the ground guiltily, as if he thought he'd upset her.

She had to get over this. Letting every single thing that reminded her of Zekrom get the better of her wasn't going to be any help. He wasn't coming back, and there was nothing she could do about that. That was how she'd kept trying to force herself to get over the fact that the dragon was dead.

And it didn't help at all…

Yet after the turmoil from yesterday was over, being around Reshiram hadn't been so bad – maybe even helped her slightly. Even though she couldn't understand Pokémon like N could, White could tell that the white dragon missed Zekrom too. When they'd been in Nimbasa earlier, occasionally Reshiram would give her a look that almost looked like sadness or pity… it was hard to tell.

What she did know was that she was never going to be able to move on unless she tried to. White closed her eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath.

"Yeah. Sure."

* * *

Thinking back on when she and Black had first travelled out here a few days ago, White now realised why Black had looked so nervous when Zekrom was carrying them through the sky. When she'd flown with her own Pokémon, there was always that sense of safety with his wings on either side of her, and being about to wrap her arms around Zekrom's neck. Yet when you were with someone else, that security was gone, and White found herself clinging to N for dear life every time she felt like she was going to fall off. It didn't help that Reshiram flew a lot faster than she was used to…

N glanced back at her for about the tenth time since the dragon had taken off. "What's the matter? I thought you were used to flying…?"

"Not when every movement feels like I'm going to fall off!" White protested. As if teasing her, Reshiram made a sudden dive, and even though it was only a few metres White instinctively let out a squeal and tightened her grip on N.

He winced slightly as she accidentally hit some of the bruises that still hadn't healed. "Reshiram, don't do that… her reaction hurts…"

"S-sorry," White muttered, letting go of him. "Reflexes…"

Reshiram let out a quiet grumble.

"It's okay; Reshiram won't let you fall," N smiled, still looking amused at the fact that White was scared of something for once when he wasn't.

"I'd be able to believe that if she didn't keep mocking me," White sighed.

"She's not trying to kill you, I promise," N laughed."You can trust Reshiram."

The dragon eventually landed just inside Route 4, near the entrance to Castelia City. The second they reached ground, White jumped down onto the dusty road, silently relieved to have solid ground under her feet once more.

"Well, that was a traumatic experience," she said sarcastically. Reshiram gave a quiet grumble, eyes sparking with amusement. White threw the dragon a mock death glare. "Don't you laugh at me!"

Letting out a friendly growl, Reshiram playfully head butted the trainer's shoulder. White couldn't help but laugh as she patted the dragon's nose.

At least Reshiram seemed to have forgiven her for shouting at her yesterday. She hadn't meant to; she'd just been missing Zekrom, and the sight of the white dragon appearing to protect her had thrown her over the edge. She still missed Zekrom more than ever, but she wasn't going to take it out on poor Reshiram again.

"We'd better go," White stated, gently pushing the over-affectionate dragon away. "It's probably nearly two by now and the others will be here already."

"Okay," N shrugged, hopping down to the ground. He took Reshiram's Pokéball from his pocket, hesitating as the dragon gave him an irritated glance. "Sorry, Reshiram… you know how crowded the city is…"

Reshiram just gave a despondent huff as she vanished inside the Pokéball.

_I wonder if a trainer's personality can affect how their Pokémon act, _White thought absently. "C'mon, let's go."

As they headed into the city, White was thankful that there wasn't a massive rush through the streets for once. It was too early for rush hour and anyone on a lunch break would be back at work by now, so there were only one or two people milling around on the street.

Once they were closer to the fountain, White held a hand up to shield her eyes from the sunlight reflecting off the water. It took her a moment to try and see around the light, but clearly she was noticed before she had a chance to work out what was going on there.

"Sheesh, you guys sure took your time," Black called, running over to greet them.

"Hey, dragons don't fly that fast, y'know," White joked.

Black almost seemed surprised at her words, but the look vanished quickly. "Well, you're here now. And it looks like Cheren had a reliable plan after all!"

She followed as he led the way over to the fountain. Once she could actually see the clearing around it, White halted in surprise.

There were a lot of people gathered around here; it took her a moment to realise that she recognised most of them. She could count just about every gym leader she'd ever challenged, as well as Alder and the Elite Four. Colress was there too, as well as Hugh who had stayed where he was whilst Black ran over to them.

"Wow…" White gasped, somewhat awestruck.

"What did I tell you?" Cheren smiled, walking over to her. "You three may not have been able to defeat Team Plasma on your own, but with this much help we might just be able to."

_That's why everyone's here… _White blinked, still speechless.

"White! You're coming with us, right?" Bianca asked, hurrying over to join them. "To beat Team Plasma?"

"I… I don't know…" White stuttered, taking a half-step back. "I mean… you… you probably don't need my help… I'll just screw up again…"

"Hey, of course we need you!" Black encouraged, gently nudging her arm. "I mean, you're not Unova's hero for nothing, right?"

She gave him a somewhat unconvinced glance. "Black, _you_ beat me in a Pokémon battle, and that's without any crazy power-boosting technology. How am I supposed to defeat anyone in Team Plasma?"

"Hey, that battle was pretty darn close!" Black reminded her. "And besides, you only had five—I mean… my team had… more Pokémon than yours…"

"You don't have to go out of your way to avoid saying it, Black," White sighed. "But… that just means I'm even weaker than last time…"

"You aren't weak, White!" Bianca insisted. "I mean, you could probably still beat me in a Pokémon battle any day. That might not be saying much, but… well, you know what I mean! If you don't want to go, we understand, honestly. Oh, sorry… I'm really not good at this inspirational speech stuff…"

White gave a half-hearted smile. "It's okay, Bianca."

"Well, you still have a while to decide yet," Cheren added. "We're still waiting for Burgh to get here." He glanced past her. "What about you, N? Are you going to help us against Team Plasma?"

White couldn't help but noticed his eyes narrowed slightly when he spoke to N. It was almost as if he was suspicious of him…

"Of course!" N nodded, seeming surprised that Cheren's attention had turned to him. "Th-they're hurting Pokémon… we have to stop them…!"

Cheren seemed satisfied with that answer. "Okay then. Good to have you on our side."

Of course. The last time Cheren would have seen N must have been just after White defeated him two years ago. And, well, Cheren always did seem to be wary of anyone he didn't know much about… at least he seemed happier knowing that N wasn't helping Team Plasma.

The five of them headed over to the fountain to join everyone else. White noticed a few of the gym leaders waving to her, glad to see her again after such a long time, and she waved back, smiling. She had to admit, there was a certain feel of nostalgia seeing everyone here like this…

"Ah! S-sorry… I'm late… Cheren…"

White glanced around to see Burgh run over to them, looking somewhat out of breath. Leavanny trotted along at his side and a Sewaddle was clinging to his shoulder, trying not to be thrown off in his haste.

"Bugs!" Grimsley yelped, jumping back slightly.

"It's okay, Burgh, you're not that late," Cheren shrugged. "Find anything?"

"Just lemme… get my breath back…" Burgh panted, his hands resting on his knees. Leavanny patted his arm. He was carrying a rolled up piece of paper in one hand. After a moment he took a deep breath and stood upright. "Okay, better now. I managed to find a floor plan of the warehouse," he held out the piece of paper.

"Thanks, Burgh, that's excellent!" Cheren took the plans, unravelling the paper to look at them.

"Wow…" Black muttered, looking over his shoulder. "That's… confusing…"

White just stared blankly at the plans for a moment. There was more than one floor to the warehouse and more rooms than she cared to count. Yet she could clearly work out which was the first massive room they'd been in, and almost unconsciously she found herself trying to trace the way they'd been last time…

"Also, a few of the Sewaddle had a look inside," Burgh continued. "Team Plasma has a lot of people on guard inside now. One of the poor bug Pokémon was nearly caught by them..."

"Ah. I expected as much," Cheren muttered. "Luckily, we should be able to deal with that." He raised his voice. "Attention, everyone!"

Everyone in the clearing turned to listen as Cheren walked over to stand by the fountain. White was glad that he was the one sorting out this whole thing and not her.

"First of all, thanks to all of you for coming to help. This would be a near impossible task otherwise."

"You're welcome!" Iris spoke up, excited as usual. "So, what do we need to do?"

"The plan is to head into Team Plasma's base and take them out," Cheren explained. "Right now, their Pokémon have been made more powerful with technology, but Black, Hugh and Colress have the task of trying to find the computers and deactivating it. As for everyone else, we need your help keeping the rest of Team Plasma at bay while they do that."

"So we just need to fight the grunts to distract them, right?" Skyla asked.

"Yeah," Cheren nodded. "But keep in mind that their Pokémon are very powerful, and Team Plasma doesn't have the best of intentions. Nobody should go alone, just in case. And if any of your Pokémon faint in battle, bring them back to their Pokéballs _immediately_."

His last statement left a few of the audience looking slightly confused. They nodded anyway.

"Right. Then we might as well head there now. Black, I'm assuming you remember where their base is?"

"Of course," Black shrugged.

"Okay, then lead the way. Unless anyone has any other questions?"

"What about ther' boss?" Clay pointed out, pushing his western-style hat more firmly onto his head. "Ain't that how that dern Team Plasma will be defeated, by beatin' them?"

"It probably would be best to try and avoid Ghetsis and the Shadow Triad until the technology is switched off," Cheren decided. "Their Pokémon are likely to be the strongest of all, so defeating them will be much easier when they don't have amplified strength." He paused for a moment. "Anything else?"

Nobody else spoke up with a question, so Black headed off, leading the way towards the warehouse. White hung back as she watched everyone else leave. After a moment, Cheren noticed her and walked over.

"Well, last chance to decide. Are you coming with us?"

White hesitated for a moment as she thought. She didn't know if she could face Team Plasma. Yet all this time she'd been worried about facing them on her own. With so many people on their side to help, it should be a lot easier than when the three of them had tried to fight Team Plasma before…

Well, everyone else was willing to help out. And besides, that was the reason she had returned to Unova, right?

She took a deep breath.

"Yeah. I'll go."

There was no turning back now.


	17. Breaking In

**What I've noticed in this story is that put just about anyone with Black and they can make an epic comedy duo. N, Hugh, Cheren... it seems to work for just about everyone. Also, this year has gone crazily fast so far...**

**I'm nearly finished writing this story by now. Currently on what will be chapter 24 (so yeah still quite far ahead rofl), there's probably 2 or3 chapters after that, so about 10 more chapters to this story? Ish?**

**Also, brace yourselves, shippers. There's some ferriswheelshipping and dualrivalshipping coming up shortly...**

* * *

Black hesitated as he reached the entrance to the alleyway where the old warehouse was situated. The place was just as dreary-looking as before as nobody had cleared away the old crates and bins since they were last here – there wouldn't have been much point – and the tall buildings on either side meant the whole area was encased in shadow. But despite the dim light, Black could just about see the silhouettes of two Team Plasma grunts standing guard outside the sliding door. Hurriedly he doubled back, hiding around the corner.

"Ah!" Hugh gasped as Black accidentally walked into him. "What the heck are you—"

"Shhh!" Black hissed, shoving him back slightly. Luckily there was nobody directly behind them for him to be pushed into. "They've got guards outside," he added, keeping his voice low so they wouldn't hear him. "If they see everyone here they'll probably alert the rest of Team Plasma…"

"Guards, huh," Cheren muttered, walking over and peering around the corner. "Well, it wouldn't be too much trouble defeating them, but we need to get everyone inside quickly…"

"Exactly," Black pointed out, pulling him back by the arm before either of the grunts noticed him – and getting an annoyed glare for his efforts. "So, what now?"

"Why don't we just hurry past them?" Elesa shrugged. "It's not as if they can stop us."

"We have to get the door open as well though; it's pretty heavy, we needed Lucario to open it last time."

"No sweat," Hugh shrugged, pushing past him. "I got this."

"Hugh!"Black cried, attempting to grab his arm to pull him back but wasn't fast enough. He was about to head down the alley after him but Cheren stopped him.

"He seems to think he knows what he's doing," Cheren muttered.

"It's Hugh. There's a 50% chance it'll be something stupid," Black sighed. "But fine." _Just don't do anything reckless…_

He looked back around the corner, hoping Team Plasma wouldn't notice him. Hugh walked casually down the alleyway, hands in the pockets of his jacket – although Black noticed him take Serperior's Pokéball from his bag beforehand. The two grunts were watching him, though they didn't act.

He stopped just beside them, glancing over at the garage-style door.

"Why are you two standing around here? It's just an empty building," he asked, sounding innocent.

Hugh's acting skills weren't exactly excellent, but the grunts seemed to be fooled. "None of your business, kid."

Hugh tipped his head to one side, looking up at the building. "Are you guarding this place or something? There isn't even anything here. This warehouse has been abandoned for months." He stepped towards one of the boarded-up windows, as if trying to see inside the building.

"Hey!" one of the grunts snapped, leaving his post to go and attempt to chase him off. "Get away from there, you little brat!"

"Why? You hiding something?" Hugh asked, pretending to be curious as he reached up to look through one of the gaps in the wood.

"We told you, it's none of your business!" the second grunt said sternly. "So just clear off!"

Hugh stepped back slightly as the two grunts towered over him. "Okay, okay, I'm leaving." He took the Pokéball from his pocket. "Serperior! Get 'em!"

The two grunts didn't even have a chance to react as the grass snake appeared next to them, letting out a hiss. Shooting vines from his neck, Serperior lassoed one of the grunts, who let out a scream as they were flung into the air. They came crashing down on a pile of old crates.

The other grunt attempted to make a run for the warehouse door, but Hugh was too fast for them and blocked the way.

"Sorry, can't let you do that," he shrugged with a smirk.

"You really think you can stand up to—" the grunt started, but broke off as Serperior dragged his feet out from underneath him and he was brought crashing to the ground.

"What was that about standing up?" Hugh laughed, stepping back slightly.

The other grunt scrambled back out from the pile of crates. "Let's get out of here!"

The first grunt nodded hastily, kicking Serperior away and climbing back to his feet. The two of them raced away down the alley, out of sight.

After taking a boot to the face, Serperior quickly shook his head, giving an irritated hiss. He slithered back over to Hugh's side and the trainer patted his neck.

Now that the coast was clear, Black shrugged and headed into the alleyway, leading the others. Hugh glanced over at him.

"So, how 'stupid' was my idea then?" he said pointedly.

"Okay, I'll give you that one," Black replied evenly. "Now we just need to get through the door…"

"Doesn't it just slide open?" Hugh muttered. He tried to push the door up. "Wow, it's… kinda… heavy…!"

"Leave this to me."

The two of them stepped back as Marshal walked over to the door. The Elite Four member reached down, grabbing the base of the sliding door and pulling it up. As before, the door made an echoing rattling noise, and Black was certain that with extra people on guard inside, someone from Team Plasma must have heard. Yet for now he was just amazed that Marshal was able to open that door without even breaking a sweat…

Since the fighting-type specialist was much taller than Lucario, he managed to force the door all the way up so that it stayed open even when he let go. "There. It's open."

Black just stared at him.

"Thanks, Marshal," Cheren said eventually, realising Black wasn't going to answer. "Now we can head inside. But nobody should go alone. Team Plasma is powerful right now and who knows what they might resort to just to stop us from ruining their plans. Black, you wait here with Hugh and Colress and head in last. Your task is to try and get to the computers and it'll be easier to sneak through the building whilst Team Plasma is distracted."

"Okay, boss," Black nodded, saluting.

Cheren shot him an unimpressed glance before continuing. "We'll head inside now. Good luck, everyone."

* * *

White still hung back slightly as they reached the alleyway, too many people in front of her to see what was going on, but she could hear the voices when people spoke. N had stayed back too, although that was probably more because of how many people were here rather than where they were.

"I… I can go with you, right…?" he asked anxiously as soon as Cheren mentioned the dangers of venturing into the base alone.

White blinked at him in surprise. "Yeah, sure." He didn't need to ask; she'd probably have teamed up with him anyway. Besides, he didn't know many other people here besides Black, and White wasn't harsh enough to force him to travel around with Hugh and Colress…

"Thanks…"

They waited awhile for the small crowd to disperse before heading for the door of the old warehouse. Black and his group were still waiting outside as they passed.

"I'm glad you decided to help, White," he said with a friendly smile – which soon turned into a teasing grin. "Besides, someone has to put up with N."

"Should I be offended by this?" N muttered, only sounding half serious.

"Hey, N," Black added, turning to the older boy. "Don't go getting hit by any more lasers, 'kay?"

"Yeah, and don't get poisoned by anything this time."

"My, was that actually a _comeback_?" Black said with exaggerated surprise. He gave a Japanese-style bow. "I have trained you well, my apprentice."

"Black…?"

"Yes?"

"What the heck are you talking about…?"

"Oh, never mind," Black rolled his eyes. "Just… go beat up some Team Plasma grunts or vice versa." He shoved him towards the door.

N still looked utterly confused, but he shrugged it off and headed inside.

White glanced around at the small room, remembering the last time they were here. At least with the door open it wasn't pitch black like last time. They still hadn't fixed that flickering light, though…

"So, we just need to make our way through the building avoiding any members of Team Plasma as best we can until we reach the technology base," Colress checked as the other three entered the building. "This should be interesting."

"If you say so," Hugh muttered absently, obviously not putting too much thought into anything the scientist said.

"Well, everyone else has gone," Black shrugged. "So I guess our stealth mission begins now. White, N… see ya around!" He raced off through one of the doors, Hugh and Colress following him.

White watched them go, almost wishing that Black would have fought alongside them again this time. His optimism was something she could do with…

Now that everyone else had gone, she was left with the eerie silence of the warehouse, broken only by the faulty buzzing of the light.

"White? Are you okay?"

She jumped slightly at his voice and glanced around to see N watching her, a worried look in his eyes. "Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?"

N took a nervous step back at her abrupt reply. He glanced quickly around at the dilapidated building. "Are… you scared…?"

"Honestly?" she mumbled, giving a wry smile. "I'm terrified. I just know I'm going to screw something up… or one of my friends is going to get hurt… a-and I just… I don't want to lose any more of my Pokémon…"

"I… I understand," N gave a half-hearted smile. "But we can win this time, right? I mean, there are a lot of people helping out…"

"I sure as hell hope so," White sighed. "Shall we just get going already? No point just hanging around the door for ages." Not to mention, standing around here was making her even more nervous.

"Oh… yeah, okay."

Deciding they might as well just head the same way as last time in the hope that they wouldn't get lost – even though with her sense of direction, they probably would anyway – White lead the way into the next room. It was the massive room full of aisles of shelves. She was surprised that there weren't any grunts this close to the entrance…

"Y'know… I thought people were pretty horrible. But everyone is working together to try and save the Pokémon…" N almost sounded hopeful.

"Yeah. Most people are reasonable. Then there's that, say, ten percent who do stupid things like go along with crazy schemes like Team Plasma," White said evenly. "Guess the fact of the matter is, all people are different." She thought for a moment. "Kinda like how Pokémon have different types and abilities."

"I guess that makes sense," N mused. "It doesn't mean I really understand humans, though."

White didn't know if he was making an attempt at casual conversation in an effort to stop her worrying, or to take his own mind off who they were likely to have to face later. But she didn't complain. It was working. "Well, don't expect to. After thousands of years, humans don't even understand themselves. That's why there are so many Psychologists."

"Oh, great," N sighed melodramatically. "I think I'll stick to maths."

"Hey, N. What's 27 squared?"

"729, why?"

White just smiled. When they were younger, she'd always ask Cheren random maths questions, just to be amazed by how good he was at them. She hadn't done that for years, but it still amused her when people could answer so quickly. "Oh, no reason."

"Okay…?" N blinked, looking just as confused as ever.

* * *

"This is _so awesome_!"

Cheren let out a long sigh. "Iris, for the hundredth time, we're trying to defeat Team Plasma here, not just aimlessly wander around an abandoned warehouse!"

"I know," Iris shrugged casually as she skipped along. "But it's still pretty awesome. I mean, we're doing all this to save the Pokémon too, right? I wish I was more help in the fight against Team Plasma before! I didn't know you guys got to sneak around places like this!"

Cheren just rolled his eyes. It was still beyond even his understanding as to how Iris had been the Pokémon champion and also the dragon gym leader at one point. And people said that _he_ was young for a gym leader…

"Iris, this is serious business," Drayden warned. "This place could be full of danger or traps."

"Traps!?" Bianca squeaked. "I hadn't thought about that…"

For now, the four of them were heading along one of the corridors. Everyone in the crowd had split into groups, generally allocating themselves into teams of two or three, but considering there wasn't a vast number of directions to head in most of them had headed deeper into the warehouse together, prepared to split up once they found enemies to fight.

Cheren took the floor plan out of his pocket every now and then to check where they were going, although the place still seemed like a maze even when they had a map of the area.

"Don't worry, Bianca, the only traps there are likely to be in here are getting ambushed by Team Plasma," he muttered absently, folding the paper back up as they entered one of the large storage-type rooms.

"It's kinda dark in here though," Iris commented. "There's a lot of shadows an' stuff. Y'know, where anything could just… jump out!"

Bianca let out a squeal as Iris grabbed her arm, bursting out laughing at her reaction.

"Iris!" Drayden snapped.

The young girl's laughter died down and she took on a dejected look. "Sorry…"

"Intruders! Found them!"

Cheren glanced around as two Team Plasma grunts emerged from the shadows of the old boxes in the corner of the room. Both of them were armed with Pokéballs.

"Well, you two have managed to get Team Plasma to show themselves at least," Cheren shrugged.

"Oh, finally!" Iris cheered. "Wandering around this place was getting boring!" She held out a Pokéball. "Hydreigon!"

The three-headed dragon appeared in front of her with a roar, the jaws on it's arms snapping as it floated from side to side restlessly, as if it didn't want to stay still. It was very clear that Iris was its trainer just from how it acted.

Realising the young trainer was intending to fight them, the two grunts sent out their Pokémon as well. Sneasel eyed the dragon Pokémon with a look of somewhat contempt, whereas a Lampent shied away slightly.

"Well, looks like we're in a battle already," Drayden muttered, sending out Druddigon. "Guess this is where we part ways, Cheren."

"Yeah. Good luck," the younger gym leader nodded, heading for the door on the other side of the room, ignoring the fact that the grunts were glaring at him. "C'mon, Bianca, let's go."

"Huh? Oh, okay," she said, hurrying after him.

Cheren cast a quick glance back at the two dragon trainers as he left the room, just in time to see Sneasel sent flying by Hydreigon's Focus Blast. Despite its double weakness to the fighting-type move, the Sneasel managed to pick itself back up off the ground, although it did look severely weakened.

_They'll be okay,_ he thought to himself. Team Plasma's Pokémon might be strong, but so were theirs. They could do this.

This was it. The battle had begun.


	18. The Maze Game

Once they'd left the massive room, White had no idea where exactly they were going. At first she thought they were heading along the same path they'd taken last time, but then they'd been following Lucario, and she hadn't really paid much attention to where any of the corners were. At least they were bound to run into some of the others eventually, so it wasn't as if they'd end up stuck in here forever if they couldn't find the way back out again.

Still, White couldn't help but feel slightly unnerved as she made her way through the dimly-lit corridors, not knowing where any of Team Plasma might be hiding. It wasn't helping that N kept jumping at even his own shadow.

"Geez, how do they find their way around this place?" she sighed eventually. "It's like a maze."

"I-I don't know," N replied nervously.

White glanced through the door to a room, scanning it quickly to make sure there was nobody in there before continuing along the corridor. "I wonder how Black and the others are doing…"

"Well… there must be some people around here somewhere… I mean, it's not as if—"

He suddenly broke off halfway through his sentence. White halted and glanced over her shoulder. "N?"

He'd frozen, staring blankly ahead at the dark corridor.

"N…?" White repeated, slightly concerned now. It was almost as if he was trying to listen for something. Falling silent, White strained to hear anything above the gentle hum of the dim lights.

Then, at last, she heard a sound from somewhere in the distance. It sounded like the cry of a Pokémon…

Without saying a word, N raced away along the corridor.

"N!" White cried, running after him. "Slow down!"

As usual, he didn't seem to hear her.

_When there's a Pokémon in danger, he just doesn't listen,_ White thought as she tried to run faster to catch up. It was no use; he was much faster than her. He vanished around the corner, just about managing to avoid sliding on the smooth floor.

"N!" White shouted, hoping that he'd hear her this time. She could barely hear anything over her own running footsteps echoing around, and she had the feeling that it wouldn't be long before someone from Team Plasma heard her…

She turned the corner, only to be faced with an empty corridor ahead. N was nowhere to be seen.

_Ack… this isn't good…_ White raced along the corridor, casting glances in the rooms she passed in case anybody was inside, yet there was nobody around. She couldn't decide if that was good or bad.

She skidded to a halt as she reached the wall at the far end. The path split ahead, and there was no way of telling which way N had gone. White glanced behind her, only to realise there was more than one path that way too. She couldn't tell where they'd been anymore either, all of the corridors and rooms seeming to blur together.

"Oh, great," she groaned, starting to feel slightly light-headed. "I'm lost…"

* * *

Black pressed himself back against the wall before craning his neck to glance around the door, scanning the room. This was another small empty one, nothing but plain grey walls and a discarded plank of wood in the corner.

"Coast clear," he announced quietly, jumping past the door and landing lightly beyond it, sidling along the wall to the next door.

"I don't know if this is the coolest or most ridiculous thing ever," Hugh snorted.

"Keep your voice down!" Black urged. "They might hear us!"

"If there were any grunts around here they'd have heard us a long time ago. You're terrible at sneaking around, Black. Do we even know where we're going?"

"To find the computers, of course," Black tutted. "And fine then. If we just run through this place they won't catch us anyways."

"Well, it's worked before. Let's go."

The two of them took off at a run along the corridor, footsteps echoing loudly but luckily there didn't seem to be anyone around here to notice them. They were nearly at the corner when Black skidded to a halt and glanced around to see that Colress was just walking casually along after them, looking at the tablet he always seemed to carry with him.

"Colress, do you not know how to run or something?" Black exclaimed. "We have to try and find the computers quickly!"

"Fools race in the wrong direction," Colress said simply. "Do you even know where the technology base is?"

"That's what the whole point of _finding_ them is!" the trainer rolled his eyes, using his middle and index fingers to emphasise the word 'finding'.

"Besides, the longer we take, the more likely Team Plasma is going to find us," Hugh pointed out.

"If we move too quickly then we'll end up overtaking the others. Their task is to distract the rest of Team Plasma, correct?"

"Yes, but they're all fighting them for us, and the quicker we shut off this power-boosting stuff the easier it will be for them to fight!" Hugh huffed. "So just pay attention and get a move on already!"

"My, you really do have no patience," Colress tutted as he finally reached them. "But, it probably wouldn't do us any favours if I ignore this," he added, showing them the screen of the tablet with a somewhat contempt look on his face, "because, apparently, I was the only one with enough common sense to take a copy of the floor plans."

Black just stared at the screen for a moment, looking at the photograph of the paper Burgh had given to Cheren earlier. He quickly ran a hand through his hair, somewhat humiliated. "Ah. Right."

"Well then, since you two clearly have no idea where we're going, perhaps I should lead us through this building," Colress suggested, pushing his glasses further up the bridge of his nose so that they glinted slightly in the dim light.

"Fine, fine!" Hugh grumbled. "Just stop doing that creepy glasses thing. It makes you look like a mad scientist."

"I prefer the term 'innovative'."

"I don't care!"

"Let's just go before anyone hears all this shouting," Black sighed.

* * *

White had been wandering aimlessly around for a few minutes now. She'd given up hope of finding either N or the way back out of this place, and now she was just going to place her luck in running into one of the others before any of Team Plasma…

Then suddenly she heard a shriek from nearby.

_Oh, Arceus… _"N!"

She soon found herself racing through the corridors again, trying to find him. What had happened? She honestly couldn't tell if he'd been ambushed by Team Plasma or was just over-reacting as usual to finding an injured Pokémon.

After running for a minute and not entirely sure whether she'd just gone in a circle, White stopped to catch her breath. She had no idea where she was. Not that she ever did in the first place.

She just wanted to get out of here…

Waiting a moment for her breathing to return to normal, White regained her composure and continued to walk along the corridor. Running was only getting her worn out. It wasn't long before she heard some footsteps nearby.

"N?" she called, quickening her pace slightly.

Suddenly something grabbed her and she was dragged into one of the rooms attached to the corridor. White screamed in fear but a hand was clamped over her mouth to silence her as she was restrained.

Immediately she flew into panic, memories of getting attacked by those two grunts in the Dreamyard flashing through her mind as she struggled to escape. Instinctively she tried to call out for help.

"Shhh!"

Immediately she stopped struggling; partially out of disbelief and partially because she'd just been about to try and ram her elbow into her capturer's side to escape. _N!?_

Although after that she considered hitting him anyway.

Then she realised that the footsteps were a lot louder now. More than one person, and there was the clacking noise of claws as well, so there was probably a Pokémon there too.

"That brat must have gone this way," a voice spoke up. The footsteps slowed slightly just outside the door and N froze in terror.

"I didn't see where he went. Darn kids sneaking into this place. I'm surprised they haven't been caught already."

"He must be around here somewhere. Let's keep looking."

There was a "humph_"_ in reply, and a low growl which sounded like a Houndoom. The footsteps started up again but gradually got quieter. Once the other people sounded a safe distance away, White let out a sigh of relief – which would have been easier if she didn't still have a hand over her mouth.

She broke out of N's grip at last, turning to glare at him with a furious look in her eyes.

"_What the hell did you do that for!?_"

Startled by the anger in her voice, N gasped, pressing closer to the wall. "I-I… I just… didn't want them to find us…!"

"Oh, so you didn't think to just be like, 'oh hey White, we should hide in here till those grunts go away'! You have to make me think I'm being fricking _kidnapped_ instead!"

"I'm sorry!" N wailed, tears brimming in his eyes. "I-I thought you wouldn't hear me…!"

Realising that she was upsetting him, White took a step back, the fury fading from her eyes. She let out a long sigh, remaining silent for a moment as she tried to get her voice back under control. "Don't worry, N… I'm sorry for shouting at you." It was then she noticed something. "Hey, what happened to you…?"

Some of the hair at the side of his face was singed slightly, and there was a red mark on his cheek, as if he'd been burnt by something. "Oh… those two grunts attacked me… Flamethrower…"

White's eyes widened slightly. "Oh, N, I'm sorry…!"

"N-No, no, it's not your fault," he sighed, relaxing slightly now that he knew she wasn't angry at him any more. "You weren't there…"

"See, this is why you shouldn't run off and leave me behind," White tutted, resting her hands on her waist like her mother always did when lecturing her about something. "I can't leave you alone for five minutes without you getting into trouble."

"I… sorry…" N repeated, glancing away at the empty room.

White gave a half-hearted smile. "It's okay. Just… don't keep running off, okay? I can't run as fast as you."

"Oh, o-okay… sorry…but I heard that Pokémon, and… well…"

"N, you've apologized three times in the past minute. It's okay, I forgive you," White rolled her eyes with a smile. Then she regained a serious look on her face. "Well, what did you hear? Was it that Houndoom?"

"No… it was too far away for me to tell what it was, but it definitely wasn't the Houndoom. It was crying out for help…"

"Well, I guess our next plan of action should be to go find it then, right?" White decided. "But don't run off and leave me behind this time. I don't fancy being lost in this place by myself again."

* * *

Once thing Black noticed as they headed deeper into the warehouse was that the building seemed cleaner. There were less old crates lying around, and the place was more brightly lit, extra lights having been added and the old ones replaced. They were definitely getting close to the heart of the base. There couldn't be far to go now before they reached the computers.

Although, that also meant they were seeing a lot more of Team Plasma. So far they'd spotted Elesa and Skyla battling a couple of grunts in one of the medium-sized rooms, Swanna making quick work of a Sandile whilst Zebstrika easily took out a Murkrow. Other times, they'd ended up having to dive into nearby rooms to avoid getting seen by the grunts that were patrolling the corridors.

Black had to admit that every time they walked past a door or turned a corner he felt really nervous knowing there could be someone about to spot them. Yet that just made the task even more exciting.

"If my prediction is correct," Colress stated after a while, "then the computers should be in a room at the end of the corridor to the left. That seems to be the only room that previously had any kind of technology in it."

"Okay…" Black muttered, glancing around the corner. He couldn't see anything from here. Heading down the corridor and trying to step lightly, he crept past a couple of rooms he couldn't tell if anybody was in before reaching yet another corner.

There was another five metres of corridor ahead, and at the end it opened out into a large room filled with all kinds of electronic equipment. Just outside the door was a small storage room.

However, the computer room was filled with scientists and researchers. There wouldn't be any way to sneak in there and switch off the technology without being noticed…

"This might be difficult," Hugh noted quietly. "Want me to go in there and beat 'em up?"

Black threw him an are-you-serious glance. "There's too many of them. Not to mention they probably have Pokémon. You'd get yourself killed."

"Our best bet would be to find some way of getting them out of the room," Colress added simply. "Although I don't know how we would achieve that."

"I don't think these guys will be as stupid as the grunts outside," Hugh muttered. "I don't think we can pull one over on them this time. I guess we have to just try and drive them out by battling them."

"No, wait," Black said quickly, a slight grin appearing on his face. "I've got an idea."


	19. Rescue Mission

**Typical N...**

* * *

"Stupid kids! You'll never stop Team Plasma!"

"Yeah, yeah," Cheren rolled his eyes, returning Watchog to his Pokéball. "Just clear off already."

The grunt looked quite surprised to be spoken to that way. He seemed to consider replying before deciding against it and raced away, returning a fainted Yamask to a Pokéball as he ran.

_Well, that's one down,_ Cheren mused as he watched the grunt leave. That had been a more difficult battle than he expected considering they only had one Pokémon, but they'd defeated them and that was what mattered.

"Musharna, are you okay?" Bianca asked, stroking her injured Pokémon. Musharna had been hit by Shadow Ball a few times, but the psychic Pokémon had managed to withstand it. She let out a quiet coo, nudging Bianca's hand. The trainer gave a relieved smile and hugged her.

"I wonder how long it'll take for Black and the others to turn off this power-boosting technology," Cheren mused. "These grunts are even more of a pain than they used to be with all these over-powered Pokémon."

"But we can still beat them!" Bianca insisted. "That's the main thing, right?"

"Right," Cheren nodded, allowing the slightest hint of a smile to show on his face. Bianca was always so optimistic.

Absently, he wondered how White was doing. She'd seemed rather unsure before agreeing to help them fight, and not to mention this was where all of the things bothering her recently had taken place…

At least she wasn't alone. Cheren wasn't sure he entirely trusted N, but White seemed to, and that was what mattered. He'd sounded determined enough to help them.

"Where are we, anyway?" Bianca asked, returning Musharna to her Pokéball.

"Good question," Cheren muttered, taking the map from his pocket. Bianca wandered over to see.

They'd ventured to the warehouse's second floor via an old lift – and had been attacked by a grunt who was keeping guard the second they stepped out. They'd seen plenty of the others on the way here, from Alder and Marshal besting a couple of grunts with Volcarona and Sawk, to Marlon and Brycen who didn't seem to have any real idea where they were going. They'd also seen Burgh and Caitlin a while back, the psychic Elite Four struggling slightly against all of Team Plasma's dark-type Pokémon but the gym leader's bug Pokémon covering that weakness.

"Here," Cheren pointed to a second-floor room on the plans, the elevator clearly labelled in the corner. He scanned the map. "We might as well just follow this corridor here and we're sure to run into some more of Team Plasma."

"Okay," Bianca shrugged.

As he led the way through the dimly-lit corridor, Cheren couldn't help but wonder if Ghetsis or the Shadow Triad were going to show at any point. Hopefully that wouldn't be until after the others had managed to shut off that technology. If White and Black couldn't fight them, he wouldn't stand a chance…

The corridor soon opened out to a medium-sized room. The two grunts inside noticed them before they even reached the door.

"So you're the intruders!" one of them snapped, holding out a Pokéball. "We won't let you get away with this!"

The grunts sent out their Pokémon before Cheren even had a chance to reply. A Bouffalant let out a loud snort as it appeared and Misdreavus chirped quietly, hovering nearby.

"I take it you're intending to battle us," Cheren said sarcastically, sending Watchog back out. Beside him, Bianca released Musharna once more.

"Of course!" the grunt smirked. "We're going to make you regret the very second you decided to sneak in here!"

* * *

"Boldore, use Explosion!"

White froze mid-step at the shout from nearby, nearly losing her balance. Alder and Marshal burst out of a nearby room, quickly followed by Gallade, and the moment they got to the sides of the door there was a massive explosion that seemed to shake the floor, accompanied by a bright flash, pieces of rock blasting through the doorway and clattering against the far wall.

"That was close," Marshal sighed in relief once the shaking stopped.

Alder glanced over, noticing the others standing there looking slightly dumbfounded. "Hey kids!" he waved casually.

"Hey… Alder…" White blinked. The former champion was light-hearted in just about any situation. She couldn't decide whether that was a good or bad thing.

"Right, is everyone okay?" Alder checked. He glanced around. "Wait, where's Volcarona? If he got caught up in that… oh, boy…"

White walked over to the door, peering cautiously around the frame in case any more debris was sent flying. They had been in a small-ish room, and all White could see to begin with was the fainted Boldore in the centre. Then she noticed Volcarona collapsed a short distance away. There were a few sturdy-looking sheets of wood on the far side of the room, and once the dust cleared slightly two Team Plasma grunts emerged from behind them, that obviously having been their shelter to avoid getting hit by the explosion. A Honchkrow hopped up onto the wood.

One of the grunts called the fainted Boldore back to its Pokéball. The other looked back towards the bird, then at the fainted bug Pokémon.

"Honchkrow, use Fly!"

The dark Pokémon let out a caw, spreading its wings and flying up until it reached the ceiling.

Alder suddenly seemed to realise what was going on. "Volcarona!"

The Honchkrow gave another squawk, diving down towards Volcarona, who was helpless to react.

Suddenly there was a flash of green. The bird looked more than a little surprised as it ended up smashing head-first into the ground instead of hitting the bug.

"Hey!" the grunt snapped.

Pausing briefly to regain his balance, N turned to face the grunt, cradling the fainted Pokémon in his arms. The look of pure hatred and distress in his eyes came through in his voice as well. "I won't let you kill any more Pokémon!"

"Well, well, if it isn't the traitorous king," the grunt spat. "Honchkrow! Don't let the stupid brat stop you!"

N's eyes widened as he stepped back slightly, casting a glance towards the door as if he was trying to work out if he could make a run for it. Yet Honchkrow was blocking the way, albeit currently scrambling back to its feet to quickly readjust the feathers on its head. Knowing N, if the Honchkrow attacked, he'd be more focused on trying to protect the Pokémon in his arms than himself…

_Dammit, _White thought silently, realising that N was going to be in danger if she didn't do something. She quickly grabbed a Pokéball from her belt. "Zebstrika! Thunderbolt!" She thought for a moment. "And make sure you only hit Honchkrow!"

The zebra appeared, letting out a shriek as electricity sparked from her mane. Even though they were inside, a large thunderbolt came crashing down from the ceiling, hitting the Honchkrow. It let out a loud yowl as the electricity shot through it, and a moment later it fainted, a couple of stray feathers floating to the ground around it.

"Stupid kids!" the grunt shouted as he returned the bird Pokémon to its Pokéball.

Zebstrika let out a warning snort, her mane starting to glow yellow with electricity as she narrowed her eyes and took a step towards the grunt. He backed away slightly.

"M-maybe we should get out of here," the other grunt advised.

"And let the intruders get away? Never!"

At that, Zebstrika let out a shriek. That was enough to send the two grunts running. N let out a sigh of relief.

_Honestly, N, you're so reckless. _White had been about to say so out loud but decided against it. She didn't know whether her scolding would upset him, especially after she'd shouted at him earlier…

Alder and Marshal re-entered the room, Gallade glancing around nervously as if it was checking for any other possible danger.

"Here," N said quietly as the former champion walked over, placing the limp Volcarona in his arms.

"Thanks!" Alder said gratefully, returning the fainted Pokémon to his Pokéball where he'd be safe. "Hey, wait… you're N, aren't you?"

"Yeah, why…?"

"Heh. Well, I see you've finally realised that people and Pokémon help each other," Alder beamed. "And I guess you left Team Plasma, given what that grunt just said. Anyways, I don't know if that was the bravest thing I've ever seen or the most idiotic, but thanks anyways!" He patted the boy's head.

N stepped back slightly, adjusting his hat after that motion had pushed it down almost covering his eyes. "You're welcome… I think…"

White couldn't help but smile. Zebstrika trotted over to her, letting out a quiet snort and nudging her arm. The trainer patted her nose.

"Well, we should probably keep going," White said evenly. The whole reason they were here was to fight Team Plasma as a distraction, and the only grunts they'd come across so far who weren't already in a fight with the others were the ones they'd hidden from earlier. White was beginning to think that their best bet would be to find one of the large storage rooms and just wait for a couple of grunts to show up; rooms like the one they were in now would be too small for Reshiram to fight in, and White didn't fancy having to fight a double battle with any of Team Plasma and their over-powered Pokémon by herself…

"Okay then," Alder nodded. "Good luck to you – and be careful. Those grunts we were battling just now didn't even think twice about using an attack that could potentially have killed all of us…"

"Yeah, we know," White replied ruefully.

* * *

After wandering around for five minutes, listening out for any more Pokémon noises, White and N finally came across a room where the door was closed. There was no sign to say what was in there, so White gave it an experimental knock just in case. Because, well, for all she knew it could be the toilets. N threw her a confused look.

"Hi enemies, just thought we'd drop in unannounced," she joked. Her friend actually gave a half-hearted smile.

The only reply from the other side of the door was a loud, dismal wail.

"Th-that's…" N started.

"Sounds like the Pokémon we heard earlier," White muttered, twisting the door handle to try and get it to open. The door was old and the hinges rusted slightly, but she managed to force it open by ramming her shoulder against it.

To put it bluntly, the muffled yelp N gave at the sight of the room was justified.

It looked like a run-down science lab, rusty cages piled up against the wall on one side. A large flat operation table stood in the middle of the open space. On the other side of the room was a smaller table with all kinds of metal instruments that glistened forebodingly in the dim light.

White swallowed hard, stepping into the room. The rest of the warehouse had been nothing compared to how unsettling this room was. The table in the middle of the room even had a couple of deep groves in it, like scratch marks, and she could just make out a few specks of blood…

This must have been the place where Team Plasma injected the Pokémon with those power-boosting chips. There were even a couple of them lying on the table at the side. And given evidence of the struggles the Pokémon put up, it didn't look as if it was the nicest experience…

She couldn't think of any words to describe how horrifying this place was, so White remained silent. N had been standing at the door for a while, almost paralysed with shock, but after half a minute he'd managed to get over the initial fear and walked over to the cages at the side of the room.

Distracted by the scarred table, White hadn't actually noticed that some of the cages were occupied. There were only two Pokémon in here right now. An Umbreon was watching her nervously from one of the small cages in the corner of the room, and an Absol shrank back against the wall as N approached the cage.

"It's okay…" he murmured quietly, crouching down so he was on eye-level with the dark Pokémon. "We won't hurt you."

Letting out a quiet whimper, the Absol shrank back further, a terrified look in its eyes.

"No… we're not like the horrible people from Team Plasma," N assured, his voice wavering slightly at the sight of the distressed Pokémon. "There's nothing to be scared of…"

White considered that if she'd had to watch the Pokémon in here get manhandled into having those chips put in them, she'd be pretty traumatised as well. Offering the Umbreon a friendly smile in the hopes it wouldn't be too scared of her, she wandered over to examine its cage, searching for some way of opening it. The only thing keeping the cage shut was a latch, however annoyingly there was a padlock on it. She decided to go about looking for the keys instead. They had to be somewhere around here…

"Were there other Pokémon in here? What happened to them?"

The Absol gave a quiet growl in reply, something which White couldn't understand but N probably did.

"That's horrible…!" N exclaimed. "But those people aren't here now… they can't hurt you. We won't let them."

White quickly scanned the table for anything resembling a key, but couldn't find anything. She didn't want to look at these instruments for too long. Even though she couldn't understand what the Absol had said, she grasped the general idea. Pulling out each of the draws under the table one by one, White continued her search, but couldn't find any keys. If she knew how to pick locks she might have been able to use one of the metal instruments, but she didn't know how – and the thought of even touching any of those things made her feel uneasy.

"I can't find the cage keys," she sighed eventually, walking over to N. "I guess someone from Team Plasma must have them. Looks like we're going to have to go on a wild goose chase to find out who."

The Absol blinked up at her, letting out a growl. White stepped back slightly.

"He said some people in white coats have them," N explained.

"Scientists," White muttered. "Well, I guess we have to look out for anyone like that then. C'mon, let's go." She headed for the door, wanting to get out of here as soon as possible.

N hesitated for a moment before following her. He reached an arm through the bars of the cage. The Absol froze for a moment, then padded forward and nudged his hand, letting him stroke its head.

"We'll get you out of here, I promise," N said softly. Finally he drew his arm back, standing up.

White watched him as he followed her, the visor of his cap preventing her from seeing his face. "N? You okay?"

Hurriedly he wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. Then he lifted his head to look at her, giving a half-hearted smile, the rims of his eyes still slightly red. "Yeah. Let's go."

* * *

"Watchog, use Focus Blast!"

The meerkat-like Pokémon gave a chattering noise, nodding and closing his multi-coloured eyes. A moment later they snapped back open again and Watchog gave a loud shriek, sending a beam of energy shooting at the Bouffalant. It let out a roar as suddenly it was hit by the blast and collapsed on the ground.

_Is it fainted?_ Cheren wondered. He couldn't tell yet.

In the corner of his eye, he noticed Musharna sending a ball of shadows shooting towards the Misdreavus. The ghost wailed as it was hit by the attack and backed away slightly.

"Misdreavus, use Payback!"

With a nervous glance back at its trainer, the Misdreavus took a deep breath and shot towards Musharna. The psychic Pokémon yelped as the ghost crashed into her and she fell to the ground.

"Musharna!" Bianca wailed, her shout scaring the Misdreavus as it hurried back over to the other side of the room. She ran over to her Pokémon, resting her hand briefly on Musharna's head, but the Pokémon had fainted and didn't respond.

"Misdreavus! Shadow Ball!"

Cheren froze as the ghost summoned a ball of dark energy, sending it shooting towards them. "Watchog, block it!"

Watchog jumped in front of Bianca and Musharna to shield them, swatting the shadow ball away with its tail. The ghostly attack didn't affect the normal-type Pokémon at all and the dark sphere dispersed into mist.

"Watchog, use Bite!"

Misdreavus shrieked as Watchog raced over, sinking his teeth into the ghost. Once he released it, Misdreavus fainted.

_Okay, good,_ Cheren thought to himself.

"Bouffalant, use Reversal!"

He hadn't even noticed that the buffalo was still conscious. Bouffalant charged over to Watchog, landing such a fierce attack that the meerkat was flung across the room, hitting the wall and flopping limply to the ground, fainted.

"Bouffalant, Head Charge!"

_No! _"Watchog, get back!" Cheren shouted, hurriedly calling the meerkat back to his Pokéball. He couldn't lose any more of his Pokémon.

Too late, he realised that it wasn't Watchog they'd been trying to attack.

Cheren tried to move away but wasn't fast enough. The Bouffalant charged head-first into his chest and he was smashed against the wall behind him.

"_Cheren!_"

Bianca's scream was the last thing he heard before he blacked out.


	20. Saviour

_No… no…!_

Bianca could only watch with a horrified expression as her friend was attacked by the Bouffalant. After throwing him at the wall, it stepped back with a snort, shaking itself briefly and ruffling its mane.

"_Cheren!_"

She didn't know if he even heard her. After the Bouffalant moved away, Cheren slumped to the ground at the base of the wall.

"No!" Bianca wailed.

Glaring at her, the grunt tutted. "Bouffalant, shut that damn kid up. Head Charge."

Bianca froze as the buffalo turned towards her. For a moment she considered running away before she could get attacked as well, but no. She couldn't leave Cheren behind.

_But I'm not a strong trainer like Black or White… and I'm not a gym leader like Cheren… what am I supposed to do!?_

It didn't matter if she was strong or not. There wasn't a choice right now.

Quickly, Bianca pulled another Pokéball from her bag. "Mienshao! U-um… use Drain Punch!"

Mienshao appeared a few feet in front of her, taking up a somewhat kung-fu stance as she focused on the charging Bouffalant. Then she hopped into the air, hitting the buffalo squarely in the forehead with one of her front paws. The force of the attack was so strong it intercepted Bouffalant's attack, sending the larger Pokémon staggering backwards with a roar. Mienshao slapped it in the face with her long arm fur for good measure as it fell to the ground, fainted.

"Bah," the grunt muttered, returning the fainted Pokémon to its Pokéball. "Let's get outta here. I'm sure these brats have learnt their lesson."

Bianca watched for a moment as the grunts left with their fainted Pokémon. Then she glanced back over at the gym leader. "Cheren…?"

No response. He was still collapsed against the wall.

Quickly, Bianca returned Musharna to her Pokéball and hurried over, kneeling down next to her friend. "Cheren? A-are you okay? Can you hear me?" she asked hurriedly.

Still no reply.

"Cheren!" Bianca cried, nudging his arm, tears of panic brimming in her eyes. "Wake up! Say something!"

Yet again he didn't respond. At least he was breathing still. Knowing that he wasn't dead calmed her worries slightly, but Bianca was still terrified that he might not wake up… glancing up al the wall didn't help either. There were dents in the metal where the Bouffalant's horns had smashed into it. If Cheren had been hit by one of them, well…

_No, no, don't think about that! _Right now she just needed to try and work out what to do – which was tricky since when Bianca panicked over anything it was incredibly difficult for her to concentrate. She couldn't go and find help without having to leave Cheren here, and the middle of the enemy's base wasn't exactly the safest place to be.

There wasn't anything she could do. Letting out a sigh, Bianca shifted into a more comfortable sitting position, resting her head on her knees. All she could do was wait until either Cheren woke up or somebody found them. She wanted to help. Yet she couldn't think how…

The purple Pokémon hopped over, pawing at Bianca's arm with a concerned look in her eyes.

"What am I supposed to do, Mienshao…?" Bianca sniffed, wiping her eyes with one hand. "I don't… I don't know what to do…!"

Mienshao let out a quiet whimper, knowing her trainer was upset. She looked over at the unconscious boy, scampering over to nudge his hand with her paw, but to no avail.

Then suddenly the Pokémon's ears pricked up, and she looked over at the door. Bianca followed her gaze. Was someone coming? Could they help them?

Yet her heart sank as soon as she recognised the outfits of the people who entered the room.

Three Team Plasma grunts.

Immediately Bianca froze in panic. She couldn't fight Team Plasma. Not by herself, and definitely not with their overpowered Pokémon. What could she do? _What could she do?_

"No!" Bianca screamed, jumping to her feet and walking forward a few steps to stand in front of the gym leader, holding her arms out slightly. "I won't let you hurt Cheren!"

She was probably just being an idiot. She could barely even protect herself from Team Plasma, let alone someone else. But there was some reassurance in the fact that Mienshao hopped over to stand next to her, ready for a battle.

"Ha! See! I _told_ you, Cress! I told you these disguises would work!"

_Huh…?_

"Chili, you're such an idiot," one of the other 'grunts' sighed. "They don't work if you just outright reveal who we are."

"Bianca? What happened here?"

It took a moment for the girl to get over her initial confusion. Then she realised who it actually was standing in front of her. The Striaton City triplet gym leaders, dressed in Team Plasma outfits that they must have swiped from somewhere in here. She should have realised from the fact that she could see their hair colour. She probably should have felt like even more of an idiot, but right now Bianca was so weak with relief that her legs nearly gave way underneath her.

Leaving his brothers to squabble, Cilan had walked over, a slightly concerned look in his eyes.

"O-oh…" Bianca stuttered, realising he was still waiting for a reply. "Uh-um… battle… Plasma… Bouffalant… Cheren… I-I…"

"Hey, hey, slow down!" Cilan cried, holding his hands up. "Take a deep breath and tell me what happened."

Following his orders, Bianca inhaled deeply, letting the air back out in a long sigh. Okay, better. "We were fighting Team Plasma, and… one of them had a Bouffalant… and it attacked Cheren with Head Charge and… and he won't wake up…!"

"Ah, I see," Cilan muttered, holding one hand up to his chin in a thinking motion. "Cress!"

"I can't believe I actually agreed to this stupid idea—yes?" Cress glanced over from where he and Chili were still bickering.

"We appear to have a casualty," Cilan shrugged, pointing to Cheren. "Think you can wake him up?"

"I say we draw a moustache on him—ow!" Chili yelped as Cress smacked him in the face.

"Hopefully," Cress shrugged, taking a Pokéball from his pocket. "Simipour!"

The blue monkey appeared next to him, letting out a chattering sound and flicking the long fur on its head like someone swishing their hair. Then it glanced up at Cress, waiting for him to give orders.

"Simipour, we need you to wake him up. Use Water Gun, just don't make it too powerful."

"Bianca, you may want to move out of the way," Cilan advised.

"Huh? O-okay…" Bianca stepped aside as the Simipour hopped over to stand in front of Cheren. The water Pokémon watched him for a moment before taking a deep breath and sending a small torrent of water shooting at the gym leader's face.

After a second, Cheren flinched, coughing.

"Ack… what… happened…?"

"Cheren!" Bianca cheered, dashing over to hug him.

"What…" Cheren started, then just let out a sigh instead, obviously getting used to Bianca's spontaneous hugs by now. "Guess I'm not getting an explanation of why I'm soaked…" he muttered, trying to brush the water from his face and hair with one hand.

"Ah, sorry," Cress said somewhat sheepishly. "But that was the only way we could think of to wake you up. Speaking of which, it'd be understandable if you wanted to call it a day, especially if you're injured."

"No, it's okay. I'll be fine in a minute," Cheren shrugged. He raised an eyebrow. "I see you're sporting new outfits."

"I know, right?" Chili grinned. "These are our disguises. Cress thought it wouldn't work."

"We don't know if it'll work or not until we actually run into some of Team Plasma!" Cress tutted, rolling his eyes.

"Then we'd better go and find some of them since that's the reason we came here in the first place!" Cilan added, obviously trying to stop his brothers from quarrelling. "Bye guys. And, well, try not to get knocked out by anything else, okay?"

"I'll try," Cheren joked as the three of them left. He glanced down at the girl who was still clinging to him. "Bianca, I can't get up with you hugging me like this…"

"Huh? Oh, sorry." She let go of him at last, standing up and holding out her hand.

"Thanks." He gratefully took her hand as he climbed somewhat unsteadily back to his feet. Once he seemed more or less sure of his balance he dusted down his shirt, adjusting his tie as usual. "I sure hope this dries off soon, I probably look a mess…"

"I don't mind…" Bianca said earnestly. "Are you okay now?"

"Well, my head hurts," Cheren shrugged. "And the room's spinning slightly, but it's no big deal. It'll go away soon enough. We have to help the others fight Team Plasma."

Bianca was silent for a moment. "But they're all helping… can't we avoid battling for a while? O-or go and see how the others are doing, or… um…"

Cheren blinked. "Why? The whole point of everyone going here was to keep Team Plasma busy."

"Because… because I'm scared," Bianca admitted at last. "Scared that something like this will happen again, or worse…" _Like what happened when the others were fighting before._

For a few seconds, Cheren didn't reply. Then he gave a half-hearted smile. "It's okay. But I suppose it wouldn't hurt to go and check on the others for a while."

* * *

In the computer room, the scientists milled around. Plugging information into the computers, checking on data, making sure everything was up-to-date. Screens flickered, machinery whirred, button lights flashed in various colours across the room as the scientists went about their jobs.

None of them were expecting a massive creature to come crashing through the doorway.

A large dragon smashed its way into the room, taking out the edges of the doors and letting out a fierce roar that seemed to shake the air. Immediately the people flew into panic, trying to find some way of defending themselves. A few of them held Pokéballs but were too scared to activate them.

The white dragon headed further into the room, tail turbine whirring with flames, snarling at the people inside and sending fireballs raining down, causing some of the electronics to combust and spark. Knowing the place was too dangerous to stay, the scientists fled from the room.

None of them noticed the three people hiding in the shadows of the storage cupboard.

Casting a quick glance around to make sure everyone was gone, Black walked into the computer room, holding one arm up to shield his eyes from the light of the fire. "Okay, Zoroark, that's enough!"

The dragon glanced over, and immediately faded to reveal a much smaller black and red fox with an innocent look on his face. A second later the fire vanished and the room returned to normal, the computers undamaged.

"Whoa…" Hugh muttered. "That was cool."

"Never underestimate the power of illusions," Black grinned, walking over to Zoroark and ruffling his mane. The fox let out a happy bark.

"I must say, that was certainly a very _inventive_ way of clearing the area," Colress stated simply, walking over to one of the computers and examining the screen for a moment.

"You can shut off the technology now, right?" Hugh checked.

"Should be able to. It might take a few minutes to find where they've hidden all the data."

"I guess we've just got to wait around then," Black shrugged, flopping down into one of the desk chairs across the room. It was sent spinning as Zoroark jumped up to cling onto the backrest.

"I'd say it would be fine for the two of you to leave if it wasn't for the risk of anyone from Team Plasma returning here," Colress muttered. "I'm sure they'll soon realise that wasn't really Reshiram."

"Oh yeah… oops," Black sighed. "Well, we'll be ready for them if they come back. Right, Zoroark?"

Finally losing his grip on the chair, Zoroark slipped back to the ground, deciding to just sit next to him instead. He gave a determined nod.

"Great," Hugh grumbled, slumping into another chair. "We came here to fight Team Plasma, and now we just have to sit around and wait to find out if they'll even show up."

"Hey, once this thing is shut off, we can go fight as many grunts as you like," Black joked.

* * *

After another ten minutes wandering around the corridors, White finally noticed some stairs up ahead. They hadn't been this way before. It felt as if they'd been through most of the lowest floor of the warehouse – albeit probably going in circles at some point – so going somewhere new was somewhat of a relief.

She glanced into one of the rooms they passed to see Grimsley and Shauntal fighting a couple of Team Plasma grunts. Once of the grunts' Pokémon had just fainted and they sent out a Venipede instead.

"Aah! Bugs!" Grimsley squealed, hiding behind Shauntal.

The ghost-type Elite Four just sighed, as if this was something she was used to. "Chandelure, be a dear and use Flamethrower on that Venipede."

Chandelure let out a chirp, sending a pillar of flames shooting at the Venipede, which easily overpowered it. Grimsley gave a sigh of relief as the bug Pokémon fainted.

_And these guys are some of the strongest trainers in Unova, _White thought with a smile as they continued along the corridor.

Once they reached the top of the stairs, she realised that there seemed to be something different about this room.

"Sunlight!" White cheered. There were windows along one side of the corridor. They were boarded up, but there were a couple of gaps in the wood which let the sun's rays through.

Relieved that they had finally found some natural light – or generally any connection to the outside world – White headed over to one of the boarded-up windows, stretching up so that she could see through the gaps. There wasn't a whole lot to see other than the flat roof of the next building along, and even this high up she couldn't see over the skyscrapers surrounding them, but it was a nice break from seeing nothing but dreary corridors.

"Why are all the windows here covered up?" N asked, wandering over to join her. "Do people like being in the dark?"

"No, no," White replied, stifling the laugh she'd almost let out. "It's because nobody uses this warehouse anymore. Well, apart from Team Plasma. They probably just took over this place because it was abandoned. I think it's to stop people breaking in when it could be dangerous inside."

"Huh… why would somebody want to break into an empty warehouse for no reason…?"

"Because they're idiots?" White shrugged. "How should I know? People are always doing stupid things."

"That doesn't really explain anything, but… okay…"

"Come on, let's keep going. We gotta find those keys, right?"

"Right."

Now that she'd had the briefest glimpse of the outside world once more, White felt more confident as she led the way through the corridors. She still had no idea where she was going, however…

Perhaps some of this confidence came from the fact that she'd seen some of the others now. Until then, coming back had felt the same as before, like they were fighting alone, surrounded by danger… yet there were so many people willing to help them, and that was enough to give her the confidence to fight as well.

It wasn't long before the corridor ended at a large room. On the second floor of the warehouse the ceiling wasn't quite as high as the rooms on the ground floor, but the room seemed to be just as massive as the others they'd seen so far.

"Well, well. I'm surprised you're back again so soon. Foolish children. Don't you know you can't defeat Team Plasma?"

For a brief second it felt like White's heart had stopped as she froze in shock. One moment was all it took for all that confidence to drain completely.

Drapion was the first thing she saw as the large bug-like Pokémon scuttled into the room from the door on the far side. Then after came the man she'd dreaded meeting again ever since she'd taken a step into this warehouse for the second time.

"Though, to put it bluntly, I'm even more surprised to see you here, boy," Ghetsis frowned. "You should consider yourself lucky that Hyper Beam didn't kill you."

N didn't reply. Instead he took the Pokéball from his pocket. "Reshiram!"

Light split through the air, and the white dragon appeared in the middle of the room, letting out a ferocious roar, her tail blazing with fire. Drapion had been standing only a few metres away, and it stepped back slightly.

"For someone who claims to dislike using Pokémon for battles, you sure are quick to ask for a fight," Ghetsis muttered.

Reshiram let out a quiet growl.

"We're fighting to stop you from harming Pokémon," N stated, sounding a lot more confident than he looked. He walked over to stand next to the dragon. "Reshiram understands."

"Hm." The older man shifted his cold stare to White instead. "And you've returned too, I see. Don't you care in the least about your Pokémon? The last time you were here, that dragon Pokémon was killed, and yet you still return."

White flinched. She knew that some emotion must have shown on her face from the smirk Ghetsis gave at the silence.

"Leave her alone, Ghetsis!" N snapped. "I-if it's a battle you want…"

Team Plasma's leader actually looked slightly surprised at the teen's defensive outburst. His eyes narrowed. "A battle? No, that'd be far too time-consuming. There are quicker ways of dealing with you lot."

Instinctively, White reached for Emboar's Pokéball. Yet the second half of Ghetsis's words made her hesitate. What was he talking about? If he was intending to send Drapion to attack anyone – even her – Reshiram would surely be fast enough to protect them.

Then she realised that this whole time, Ghetsis had remained by the door on the far side, despite the fact that Drapion was further into the room. When they'd faced him before, he'd had his Pokémon right by his side. So what was different?

_Nothing's changed. Other than we're on the second floor this time. Wait…_

They were on the second floor.

_Oh no…_

White gasped as soon as she realised. "N! Get away from the centre of the room!"

"Huh?" he glanced back at her, looking confused.

"Drapion, now! Use Earthquake!"

The dark Pokémon let out a screech as it reared up into the air, pincers snapping menacingly.

"Well then," Ghetsis said simply, turning to walk out the door. "You two have fun now."

Drapion brought its forelegs crashing back down to the ground, causing a massive shock wave to spread throughout the room. Hurriedly the scorpion scrambled away after its trainer.

It only just made it out of the room in time as the floor started to collapse.


	21. Importance

**Well first of all thank you for all the reviews I seem to be getting on this story lately! I have no idea what changed but thanks guys, haha.**

**Also, we're getting to near the end of this story now. There's another 6 chapters after this plus the epilogue, but I'll be uploading them every Friday as usual ~ (other than when I forget...) **

* * *

"_N!_"

White could barely even hear her own voice over the loud rumbling Drapion's earthquake caused. She was just lucky that she'd been near the side of the room when it started.

Unfortunately, the others weren't so lucky.

Reshiram let out a panicked yowl as the ground collapsed beneath her, not having enough reaction time to use her wings to fly away from the danger. There was a loud crash as the dragon landed on the floor below – a sound that seemed awfully delayed.

Then White realised what was on the floor below. The massive storage room near the entrance.

_No…_

Knowing he wouldn't be able to help the dragon, N tried to escape the crumbling floor. He managed to make it half way across the room before the ground collapsed beneath him and he was left scrambling for grip at the edge of the large gap which had opened up.

"N!" White screamed. _Don't just stand here, do something!_

Hoping that now the vibrations were starting to cease the floor wouldn't give way any further, White raced across the room. N cried out in fear as he lost his grip on the metal, and she dived forwards, just barely managing to grab his arm in time before he was sent plummeting down to the floor below.

Although, she'd slightly underestimated quite how heavy a person was.

White was dragged forwards as soon as she caught him and only just managed to avoid being pulled over the edge of the gap as well. Even flattening herself against the ground and using her free arm to grip the edge didn't erase the fear that the floor might vanish from underneath her at any second.

N had seemed rather surprised when he stopped falling. Cautiously he opened his eyes, looking up at her in shock. "White!"

"I take back what I said earlier," she grinned, her voice strained slightly. "It only takes _one_ minute for you to get into trouble."

Yet they weren't safe yet. White may have been able to stop him from falling, but she wasn't strong enough to pull him back up.

* * *

_Bored…_

Black let out a sigh as he stared up at the plain ceiling; the backrest of the chair was tilted as far back as it would go. Zoroark had flopped over his lap and all he could hear was the sound of Colress typing and the hum of the computers.

"How much longer is this going to take?" Hugh tutted, echoing his thoughts.

"Honestly," Colress sighed. "Children have no patience. Shouldn't be too much longer, I've managed to hack into the computer. Now I just have to find where they've hidden the data."

"So in other words, we could be here for a while," Hugh grumbled.

"If that's how you wish to put it, yes. It shouldn't take more than ten minutes, though."

"Great."

Just then there was a loud rumbling sound from somewhere within the warehouse, followed by a crash. Black would have jolted back up in the seat if it hadn't been for the fact that Zoroark suddenly jumped up, scrambling over him and causing the chair to fall over backwards.

"Whoa! Hey!" Black cried, watching an upside-down Zoroark glancing at the door urgently.

"What the heck was that!?" Hugh exclaimed.

Black managed to escape the capsized chair, setting it back upright again before glancing back at Zoroark once more. The Pokémon kept looking at the door and them him whilst letting out fox-like barks.

"I don't know…" Black muttered. "Zoroark, what's the matter?"

Zoroark just let out another bark, scurrying over and tugging at the leg of his shorts.

Black just stared at the Pokémon blankly. _This would be a lot easier if I could understand Pokémon like N…_

_Wait…_

"Educated guess…" Black muttered. "Whatever that sound was… you think it's something to do with N?"

Zoroark nodded.

"And given your reaction, is he in trouble?"

Another nod.

Black glanced towards the door. Should he go and help? He knew that N was probably with White, and that loud crash had sounded like something collapsing, so the chances were the both of them were in danger… and, well, Zoroark probably had better judgement than him when it came to N anyway.

Casting a glance towards the others, then back at the door, Black bit his lip. What was he supposed to do…?

"Just go, Black," Hugh shrugged. "I can tell you want to help them. You know I'll beat the crap outta Team Plasma if they even think of attacking us."

"But… okay," Black sighed in somewhat relief. "C'mon, Zoroark."

A moment later, the trainer was racing through the corridors, the fox galloping along beside him.

* * *

White tried to avoid looking down as she desperately tightened her grip on N's arm. Yet stuck in her current position there wasn't really anywhere else to look. The ground was at least ten metres below, strewn with boxes and collapsed shelves. Reshiram had landed amongst the old storage, crushing a few shelving units after the fall, and White couldn't tell if the Pokémon was still conscious or not.

She gritted her teeth as a dull stab of pain ran through her shoulder. It felt like her arm was being pulled out of its socket. White didn't know how much longer she could keep this up.

"White!" N cried. "It's hurting you, just let go!"

"No!" White said defiantly. "N, I'm not letting you fall!"

"B-but… you can't get me back up there… it's okay. I-I need to help Reshiram anyway…"

"You idiot! If you fall down there you'll be killed!"

"But trying to save me is hurting you!"

White could feel tears starting to brim in her eyes. She couldn't tell if it was because of the pain or something else. "I'd be a lot more hurt if you died, trust me…"

His eyes widened slightly, though more in confusion than anything else. "White…"

"Oh, just shut up!" she wailed. "I'm not letting go and that's final!" She couldn't even feel her arm anymore. At least that masked the pain slightly. Now she was just fighting to make sure she didn't lose her grip on his wrist…

"I… s-sorry…"

She really didn't know what to do at this point. There was no way she could pull N back up to safety by herself. She'd just have to try and hang on for as long as she could.

Yet at this rate, that probably wouldn't be very long. Her entire left arm had gone numb as well as her hand and shoulder, and she had to use her right arm to grip the edge of the metal or she'd be pulled into the gap too. What was she supposed to do? She couldn't let N fall to his death!

"White!"

A familiar voice rang out from somewhere nearby. White felt a wave of relief wash over her as she realised who it was. "Bianca! Help!"

She heard footsteps heading towards them.

"Be careful!" White warned, attempting to glance up although it was kind of difficult. "The ground isn't stable!"

Bianca skidded to a halt a few feet away, letting out a quiet squeal of shock. "What happened!?"

"Well…" N started wryly.

"Just help already!" White snapped. "I can't hold him up here forever!"

"Oh, right, okay!" Bianca nodded. She carefully reached down over the edge of the gap with one arm. N caught her hand gratefully and the two of them managed to haul him back up to the surface.

As soon as he was safe, White backed away from the gap in the floor. "That was close…" She experimentally moved her arm. Now that the weight was gone the numbness was fading and only a dull ache remained, but hopefully that would go away soon.

Glancing around, she noticed Cheren waiting by the entrance of the room, leaning slightly against the doorway. He looked a little worse for wares too.

"What happened to you, Cheren?" she asked, walking over.

"Oh, um… attacked by a Bouffalant…" he shrugged. When he noticed her expression change to a look of somewhat horror he continued hurriedly. "I'm okay, though. The real question is what on earth happened here?"

"Ghetsis," White replied simply. "He made his Drapion use Earthquake and, well…" she glanced across the room. "You can see for yourself what the result of that was."

Cheren's eyes widened slightly. "Ghetsis? Where is he now?"

"I don't know," White shrugged helplessly. "He left before the attack."

"Huh… well, we'd better keep an eye out, I guess."

White nodded, looking back across the room. N was still attempting to look down through the gap in the floor despite the fact that Bianca was tugging at his arm in a failed effort to pull him back.

"No, no, no!" she said in a scolding way. "Get away from there! White's already had to save you once, and that's enough!"

"But I have to help Reshiram! And let go of my arm!" N complained.

White let out a quiet sigh, taking a Pokéball from her belt. "Sigilyph, get out here."

The psychic Pokémon appeared with a chirp, giving a questioning look as she hovered in the air.

"N, Sigilyph can carry you down there," White muttered. "Just don't do anything stupid."

"I… I won't. Thank you," N smiled gratefully as Sigilyph flew over to him. He climbed onto the Pokémon's back. "And thank you, too, Sigilyph."

Sigilyph let out a happy chirp, which assumingly meant 'no problem', before fluttering down to the floor below.

"White, you're okay, right?" Cheren checked.

"Huh? Yeah, sure."

"And you intend to keep fighting against Team Plasma despite what happened? I'm sure nobody would complain if you decided to leave for now."

White just looked at him for a moment. Then she gave a half-hearted smile. "Hey, I'm not giving up until you are, mister perfect gym leader," she teased.

"Very well then," Cheren shrugged with a smile, just as Sigilyph appeared back over the edge of the floor, drifting over to White. "Good luck."

"Thanks. I'm probably gonna need it," White added wryly. "Let's go, Sigilyph." She hopped onto the Pokémon's back.

By the time they reached the floor below, N had managed to find his way through the fallen shelves to the dragon's side. White jumped down from Sigilyph's back, returning the psychic Pokémon to her Pokéball.

"It's okay, Reshiram, I'm here," N murmured, gently stroking the dragon's head. "Just rest for a while, you'll be fine soon."

Reshiram took a moment to respond. She opened one eye, looking up at the trainer, and gave a quiet grumble.

"Huh? But…"

The dragon let out a stubborn growl.

"I… whatever you say, Reshiram…" N muttered, taking the dragon's Pokéball from his pocket and reluctantly sending her back into it.

_Reshiram knows that Team Plasma are probably still after her, _White realised. _If N didn't put her in the Pokéball and any of them came along while she was still weak from that fall…_

"Well, what now?" White spoke up at last.

"I don't know," N shrugged, climbing back over the rubble to join her. "I mean… we still need to stop Team Plasma…"

"Right. I guess we just continue with the original plan and fight whoever we come across," White suggested, heading off across the room.

"I… we don't… we don't have to fight Ghetsis, do we…?"

White halted, turning back to look at him. N looked terrified at the thought of having to face his father again – and to be quite frank, she didn't blame him. Given how anxious he always seemed to be, White was honestly impressed that N had been able to stand his ground so far. Although, her turning into a nervous wreck the last time they'd seen the older man probably hadn't done much to help…

She was about to reply; attempting to say something confident, that they'd be able to win. Yet she didn't get the chance.

White yelped as out of nowhere something smacked her in the face. The shock along with the sheer force of the hit forced her backwards and she found herself falling at the edge of the pile of collapsed shelves.

Holding one hand to her right temple, White glanced up to see who it was that had attacked her.

Towering over her was one of the Shadow Triad.

"White!" N cried. Before he even had a chance to move, another of the shadow triad appeared next to him, and a punch to the ribs was all it took to send him sprawling to the ground.

"N…!" White gasped. She was about to try and get up before suddenly Seviper jumped towards her, landing nary a few feet away with a warning hiss, its forked tongue quickly flicking out. White shrunk back against the fallen shelves, images flashing through her mind of when Black had been attacked by that thing.

"You're all idiots for coming back here," the shadow snarled. "Don't think we're letting you go anywhere!"


	22. Shadowed Hearts

**When I said there was some major ferriswheelshipping coming up? I wasn't lying. Teehee.**

**Also the Shadow Triad now have names. I regret nothing.**

* * *

White froze completely, her gaze fixed on the Seviper. It was at times like this that she really wished that she could understand Pokémon. Never had she been able to figure out what Team Plasma's Pokémon thought of them, whether they disliked her as well or whether they were simply following the instructions of their trainers. Either way, she didn't want that Seviper's poisonous fangs sinking into her…

The shadow was still glaring down at her. When they said they weren't letting her go anywhere, they weren't lying. There wasn't any way to escape. If White tried to run or send out one of her Pokémon, all the shadow had to do was issue an order and that Seviper would be on her in an instant.

_What am I supposed to do…!?_

"Hey! Leave her alone!"

The shadow didn't even react, not wanting to take his attention off the prisoner; something which he probably regretted.

There was a flash of blue and white, and the shadow's eyes widened as he was punched in the face. White almost flinched at the sound. The shadow jumped away, just about managing to keep his balance as he held a hand to the side of his face.

"Black!?" White exclaimed.

The Seviper let out a hiss, but before it had a chance to lash out at either of them it was tackled by a snarling Zoroark.

"Never fear, Prince Charming is here to save the day!" Black joked, holding out his hand.

White just rolled her eyes, letting him help her stand up.

A few metres away, the Pokémon were still fighting. As soon as Seviper tried to jump at Zoroark, the fox quickly tunnelled his way through the floor, jumping out a moment later and hitting the snake. Seviper let out a screech and fell to the ground, fainted.

_Seviper fainted from just one attack… does that mean the technology has been shut off now?_

"Shadow!"

White blinked in surprise as one of the triad hurried over to the guy Black had hit in the face.

"I'm sorry; your name is _actually_ Shadow?" Black gaped. He glanced at the shadow who had run over. "And… you're a _girl_!?"

"Why do you think we're called the Shadow Triad?" she snapped.

"Wow. I didn't know any of you had names," Black enthused. "I guess you never use your real names cuz you're like, ninja agents. That's so cool!"

"I'm surrounded by children," White sighed.

"So you guys have names too, right?" Black continued, glancing at the final triad member who had also walked over.

"Dark," he shrugged simply. "And Mist."

"Why are you telling them this, idiot?" Mist snapped.

Ignoring their bickering, White glanced back over at Shadow. The triad leader had to pull down his mask to spit out a tooth.

Then she gasped.

On the left side of his face, a massive scar ran right from the corner of his mouth to his ear. That definitely hadn't been from Black hitting him. It was an old scar, like a wound that hadn't healed properly a long time ago…

"Did… did Ghetsis do that…?" White asked cautiously.

Shadow blinked at her in surprise, his look quickly turning to anger as he realised what she was asking. "Of course not!"

"Is that why you wear a mask?" Black questioned.

_Way to be insensitive, Black…_

Shadow glared at him for a moment, as if considering whether to even bother replying. The triad hadn't really been known to speak much in the past. Eventually he let out a long sigh. "If you really must know, it's a scar I got from our old master."

"Master?" White blinked. "You mean… you were…?"

"Slaves. So, if that's all…"

"Okay, let me get this straight," Black interrupted. "You used to be slaves… and then you decide to work for a complete moron like Ghetsis? Isn't that basically the same thing?"

"No!" Mist protested. "I know what you must think of our leader. But he wasn't always like that."

"Now that's something I find hard to believe."

"Black, I don't think you're helping," White said pointedly. He threw her an irritated look.

"They're not going to let this go, are they?" Dark muttered.

"Fine, fine," Shadow sighed. "You two can explain. My face hurts." He fixed Black with another fierce glare before vanishing from sight.

Mist and Dark exchanged a glance.

"Fine," Mist huffed. "I guess I'll tell them. But you'd better not keep interrupting me, you annoying brat."

"Me?" Black stated innocently, holding up his hands.

Not bothering to reply to him, Mist continued. "A long time ago, we were slaves for a man who worked in industry. He'd beat us if we did anything wrong. And if we made him angry, well…"

"He caught Shadow trying to escape one night," Dark explained as she trailed off. "Whether it was intentional or not, his punishment was a whip to the face."

"Ouch…" White muttered sympathetically. She knew these people were their enemies, but still, she couldn't help but feel sorry for them.

"I'm not interrupting since you've stopped talking," Black pointed out quickly. "But how did you guys get away from that place? Y'know, if escape lead to something like that."

"Ghetsis found us," Mist shrugged. "He was younger at the time, and just a Pokémon trainer. He found out that our old master was forcing us to work as slaves even though he had his own Pokémon who could have been doing the work instead. So Ghetsis challenged him to a Pokémon battle, stating that if he won then the master would have to let us go free and train his Pokémon to do the work for him instead. Ghetsis won the battle and saved our lives. That's why we swore loyalty to him."

"So Ghetsis actually used to be a decent guy?" Black mused. "What happened to him?"

"He became obsessed with power," Mist sighed. "He was a strong Pokémon trainer and he knew how to manipulate people. That's the reason he formed Team Plasma, figuring he could gain enough power to theoretically rule Unova. But he still saved us," she added defiantly. "And because of that, we remain loyal, no matter what."

_I don't know whether that's sweet or just them being blind idiots, _White thought silently. "I see. But does that mean you guys are okay with this whole scheme?"

"Whether we're okay with it or not is irrelevant. We remain loyal to Ghetsis."

"Although, admittedly, we're worried," Dark said reluctantly. "He's never resorted to anything like this before."

_What, killing our Pokémon? _White didn't dare say so out loud. Yet she felt her fist clenching automatically.

"Geez, Black, there you are!"

White barely noticed as Hugh ran over to them, skidding to a halt.

"Wait, what are those two doing here?"

The two shadows were silent for a moment.

"We won't fight you," Mist said eventually. "We never had direct orders to stop you. We'll leave it up to you lot to decide how this all works out in the end. If you manage to defeat Ghetsis then we'll make sure he doesn't lose his mind like this again. If you can't, then Team Plasma will go through with our plans. I think that seems a fair deal."

Without another word, the two shadows vanished.

"I… have the feeling I missed something important," Hugh muttered. "What just happened?"

"Ah, I'll tell you in a bit," Black shrugged. "Wait, why are you here?"

"Oh, Colress finished shutting off that technology, so I thought that I might as well make sure you hadn't managed to run into anything dangerous," Hugh said plainly. "Are we gonna go fight Team Plasma now?"

"Well, I guess if the technology has been shut off, all that's left to do is try and defeat Ghetsis," Black decided. "So now we just have to try and find him."

"We saw him not long ago," White added, pointing at the collapsed ceiling. "No idea where he is now."

Black glanced up, his eyes widening slightly, as if he'd been so preoccupied with what was going on down here that he hadn't even noticed the fact that the floor on the second level had collapsed. "Well, we'd better start looking then!" He took off at a run, Zoroark hurrying to catch up.

"Right!" Hugh nodded, racing after them.

"More running?" White rolled her eyes. It looked as if they'd just have to try and trail the others as best they could. "C'mon, N, let's go."

She headed after the others, expecting to hear him muttering some kind of reply before hurrying after her.

Yet she didn't hear anything.

"N?" she echoed, glancing around. Then she froze.

He was still collapsed on the ground, his cap lying on the floor next to him, from when the shadow had attacked him earlier. N didn't move, not even when White hurried over to his side.

"N…?" she said quietly, kneeling down next to him. "A-are you okay…?"

No response. White carefully brushed his fringe out of his face, only to find that his eyes were closed.

"Come on, N, get up…!" White was starting to get worried now. "W-we have to keep fighting and beat Team Pla—"

She broke off instantly, her hand flying to her mouth to muffle the shriek she nearly let out.

Those were the exact words she'd said to Zekrom.

And he never woke up.

"N… th-this isn't funny, just get up…!"

Nothing.

"N!" she wailed, tears brimming in her eyes now and threatening to spill over. "Just wake up, please…! I can't lose you too…"

It was hopeless. He couldn't hear her.

White sat back, burying her face in her hands. This couldn't be happening. Maybe everything was a dream. She desperately wished that it was. Then Zekrom would still be here, and N would never have been hurt…

No. It wasn't a dream. This was real. She'd screwed up, and her friends were hurt. Again.

"N…" she choked out at last, reaching over to shake his shoulder.

"Oww…"

White let out a quiet squeak of surprise, drawing her hand back. "N?" It was a good thing she was sitting down already or the amount of relief that flooded over her might have caused her legs to give way. "You okay…?"

N flinched, letting out a quiet groan. "That… hurt… more than I expected…" he muttered, his eyes flicking open at last. He managed to push himself up into a somewhat sitting position, holding a hand to his bruised ribs where the shadow had hit him. "Yeah… I'm okay…" He glanced around quickly. "The shadow triad are gone… what did—"

He didn't get the chance to finish his sentence as White threw her arms around his neck, pulling him into a tight hug. She couldn't hold back the tears any longer, or the strangled sobs that came along with them.

She was just relieved that he was okay…

"White…?" N gasped, sounding rather surprised. "I… what… why are you crying…? I-I don't understand…"

For a moment, the uncontrollable sobs that came over her every few seconds meant that she couldn't reply. Trying to regain control over her emotions, she buried her face in his shoulder. She half expected him to push her away, but he didn't make any attempt to.

After a short while she let out a shaky sigh. "I-I'm sorry…" she said quietly, her voice still wavering and her eyes stinging slightly from crying. "I just… I… I-I thought… that you were dead…"

N blinked in surprise. "I don't _think_ I'm dead," he muttered, though it was hard to tell whether he was joking or not. "Nope, I'm still here."

White let out a half-hearted laugh, smiling. "Good."

For a while, the two of them sat there in silence. White was still hugging N tightly, but to her relief and somewhat surprise he didn't seem to mind. For now she was content to just stay like this. Yet still she didn't understand.

Why had the thought of him dying scared her so much?

"N… can I ask you a question…?"

"Um… I-I… guess so…?"

"How long ago did you return to Unova?"

N was silent for a moment, as if he was thinking. "A few months ago… Reshiram told me that Kyurem was in danger, so we came back here to help him. I-I looked for you, but… you were gone…"

"Oh, N, I'm sorry…" White sighed, feeling guilty now. "If I'd known you were looking for me…"

"No, no, it's okay," N smiled. "I mean, I found you eventually, right? You're here now. That's what matters."

White broke out of the hug at last, glancing up at him in surprise. He was willing to forgive her so easily? "N, I… thank you…"

"Whatever it is you're actually thanking me for, you're welcome," he said with a wry smile. A moment later the smile faded. "White, are you okay?"

"Huh? Oh…" it took her a moment to realise what he was talking about. Self-consciously she held a hand up to the side of her face. It still hurt slightly from when the shadow had hit her. That, along with the fact that she'd been crying, probably meant she looked a mess right now. "Yeah…"

"I-I'm sorry…" N sighed, glancing away at the ground. "If I'd known Shadow was there, I… I could have stopped them from hurting you…"

"You say that like it's actually possible," White joked, standing up at last and picking up his hat from the floor in the process. "It's not your fault, N," she assured, pulling the hat down slightly lop-sided over his head and offering a hand to help him get up.

N had to adjust his cap slightly before he could look at her. Once he finally realised, he took her outstretched hand, climbing back to his feet and nearly pulling her back over again in the process.

"Besides," White continued. "I think Shadow was probably a lot worse off than I am. Black hit him in the face pretty hard."

"Wow, really?" N's eyes widened slightly. "It seems I missed a lot whilst I was out…"

White couldn't help but smile slightly. "Oh, and I think they succeeded in switching off the technology as well. So, I guess… that means the only thing to do now is try and defeat Ghetsis…"

"Yeah…" N replied nervously. "But… but we can win, right? Now that the technology's off… and no more Pokémon need to suffer!"

"N…" she said quietly, trying to phrase what she wanted to say. "No… not 'we'. N, you… just… just leave this to us, okay?"

"What!?" N cried. White had to glance away at the sudden look of hurt that flashed through his eyes. "B-but… White…!"

"Look… I-I know you'd never send Reshiram out to fight when she'd already hurt and you don't have any other Pokémon with you…" White trailed off, finally mustering the courage to look him in the eyes once more. "I just… I don't want you to get hurt again…"

For a moment she thought N was going to protest. He looked like he wanted to shout at her. Convince her to let him go with them. Yet instead he let out a long sigh. Even he could hear the worry and fear in her voice.

But she wouldn't be able to stand seeing him hurt again.

"Okay," he nodded reluctantly, flashing her a half-hearted smile before turning and walking somewhat dejectedly towards the door.

Once he reached the doorway, daylight in plain view from there, he looked back at her, a confident look in his eyes for once.

"But you'd better win against them, okay?"

White was almost surprised at how confident he looked. He believed in her. She wasn't even sure if she believed in herself.

Yet still, she allowed a determined look to show on her face. "Yeah. We will."

She wasn't going to let him down.


	23. Luck and Faith

Walking through the warehouse by herself was just as unsettling as White remembered. She still had no idea where she was going and the others were probably a long way ahead by now, but at least the technology was shut off now. If any grunts attacked her she'd be able to beat them easily. That was enough to bring the slightest string of confidence back to her.

But would she be able to defeat Ghetsis?

Maybe she wouldn't have to. Perhaps Black would have already taken it upon himself to defeat Team Plasma's leader. There was a mixed feeling of relief and jealousy to that. She should be able to help. Up until now she'd barely done anything other than feel sorry for herself. She still had to find out how to release those Pokémon as well. Now that N had left, it seemed like that task had been passed on to her. Although, if they defeated Team Plasma, finding a way to release the Pokémon they'd captured should be a lot easier.

Self-consciously she pulled the visor of her hat down slightly, hoping that would mask the fact that she'd been crying. Facing Team Plasma whilst looking like a scared child wouldn't do her any favours. Gently pressing a hand to the side of her face, she was greeted with a dull pain. That would probably come up with a bruise by tomorrow. Hopefully it wouldn't be too obvious. White really didn't want to end up looking like someone had beaten her up…

Suddenly she heard footsteps heading her way. She paused for a moment, hoping it wasn't anyone from Team Plasma.

Her fears were short-lived as a moment later Black came racing around the corner, skidding to a halt before he ran straight into her.

"Here you are!" he exclaimed, sounding somewhat relieved. "We realised you guys weren't following us and decided to come back and, well… kinda got lost."

"Told you we should have waited," Hugh muttered.

"Hypocrite," Black laughed. He glanced around quickly. "Hey, where's N?"

"He left," White shrugged, deciding not to explain too much about what happened. "Reshiram got hurt when we saw Ghetsis earlier."

"Oh, I see. Well, at least we don't have to wait for anyone else," Black said evenly. "We're gonna try and find where Ghetsis is now, right? I mean, the technology's off. We can beat him."

"Yeah," White nodded.

"Well then, what are we waiting for?" Hugh said confidently. "I've got a damn load of pent-up rage against Team Plasma. Ghetsis is going to regret the very day he decided to mess with us!"

* * *

Black let Hugh take the lead as they headed through the winding corridors once more. That way if they nearly ran into anyone else, he could take the blame instead for once. As he trailed behind slightly, Black busied himself by examining his left hand. His knuckles had been bright red ever since that encounter with the shadow triad.

"You okay?"

"Hm?" Black glanced up, slightly surprised to hear concern in White's voice. "Oh, yeah. It's been a while since I punched anyone in the face," he grinned.

She raised an eyebrow. "Isn't that a _good_ thing? I'm not even gonna ask how many other times you've actually had a legit reason for punching someone in the face."

"Girls," Hugh laughed quietly.

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?"

"Erm… nothing…"

"Until you've got into a fistfight, you'll never understand," Black smiled wryly. "We got into plenty of fights when we were younger. So yeah, the last person I punched in the face was probably Hugh. Although, he did break my arm afterwards…"

"You cried for an hour," Hugh snorted.

"If someone snapped your arm in half I'm pretty sure you would too!" Black protested.

"You boys are such idiots," White rolled her eyes.

Black was about to reply when suddenly there was a loud noise from somewhere nearby. The battle cry of a Pokémon.

_Hydreigon…_

"That's either him or Iris," Black muttered.

"Then we'd better go find out!" Hugh insisted, taking off at a run.

The others followed quickly behind. Black kept glancing back to make sure White wasn't having any trouble keeping up with them as they raced through the corridors. He did feel a little bad for her, being around so many people who had the habit of just racing off with no prior warning and expecting her to follow…

He was brought to an abrupt halt as he ended up with an elbow in his chest as Hugh held out an arm to stop him.

"Gah!" Black gasped as all the breath was knocked out of him. He stepped back. "A simple 'stop' would have worked just as well…"

Hugh ignored his complaint. "Found him."

"Huh?" he blinked. Getting winded had momentarily washed his mind of what they were doing in the first place. He glanced around. "Oh…"

A few metres ahead, the corridor opened out into a large storage room, this one free of any shelves or old boxes. Yet the floor was strewn with small pieces of rubble, metal torn up from the ground and walls.

Hydreigon floated in the centre of the room, the jaws on its arms snapping fiercely as it waited for its orders. Ghetsis was there as well, Elektross floating by his side. At first Black thought that he had been waiting for them to arrive. Then he realised that there was someone else here as well.

"Colress!?"

At his exclamation, all heads turned their way – including the three Hydreigon had. Ghetsis showed no more than a quick look of frustration.

Colress returned a fainted Beheeyem to its Pokéball, his expression unreadable. He sent out his next Pokémon. "Metagross, use Meteor Mash."

Black reached for Lucario's Pokéball, wanting to help. Colress may have been the sub-leader of Team Plasma not long ago, but he wasn't the strongest trainer. Would he even stand a chance against Ghetsis?

Yet the scientist noticed the movement. "No. Do not interfere."

"But… fine, fine," Black held up his hands in defence.

Metagross lifted up one of its heavy legs, the metal starting to glow as it scrambled towards Hydreigon, ready to attack.

"Hydreigon, use Fire Blast!"

It looked like Metagross was going to be able to make the attack. Yet just milliseconds before Hydreigon was hit by the fierce metal punch, it sent a massive blast of fire shooting at the steel Pokémon. Metagross vanished briefly in an explosion of flames. A few seconds later they faded to smoke, and the steel Pokémon had fainted.

"Return, Metagross," Colress said plainly, holding out a Pokéball. There was a flash of red light and the Pokémon vanished inside.

He didn't send out any others. Metagross must have been his last Pokémon.

"Like I said, you couldn't win," Ghetsis stated, his left eye gleaming with victory. "Now then, Colress, as we agreed. Reset whatever you have done to our data."

"What!?" Hugh exclaimed.

Colress simply pushed the frame of his glasses more firmly onto his face, the lenses glinting slightly in the dim light. "Sorry to disappoint you, but I do not recall agreeing to such measures. I don't work for Team Plasma."

Ghetsis's look of victory turned to pure frustration in less than a second. "So you're working for a bunch of pathetic _kids_ instead? You're an idiot, Colress."

"I feel the term 'independent intellectual' would be more appropriate."

"Enough!" Ghetsis snapped, anger making him raise his voice. "Hydreigon, Fire Blast!"

This time, a look of panic flashed on Colress's face.

_Okay, the time for not interfering is over._ "Samurott!" Black shouted, holding out a Pokéball. A second later the sea lion Pokémon appeared with a snarl. "Use Surf!"

Samurott gave a roar, sending a wave of water into the air. It came crashing down on top of Hydreigon, who'd been about to send another blast of fire shooting across the room. Yet the water caused the flames in the dragon's mouth to be put out, and it was left coughing out smoke, looking less than pleased at the fact that it was now also completely soaked.

"You stupid brats!" Ghetsis snarled. "Don't you know when to give up? Before this is over, the lot of you will be dead!"

Black walked out into the room to stand beside Samurott. The water Pokémon let out a quiet growl, moving slightly in front of him, as if trying to protect him from anything Ghetsis and his Pokémon might do to hurt the trainer. "Ghetsis, you're the one who needs to learn when to give up, not us. Your greed for power is starting to make you go insane!"

The man actually looked somewhat surprised at his words. He looked like he was about to shout at him again but decided against it, obviously realising that would only further prove what Black had just said. "It can be mentioned that I'm not the only one with a greed for power. Isn't that right, Pokémon Champion?"

_He's going to accuse _me_ of being as crazy as he is? _Almost unconsciously, Black clenched his fist. "At least that's power for the right reasons. And I don't use that power to manipulate others. That's all you're doing, Ghetsis!"

"And yet, you still claim to be the strongest trainer in the Unova region. That's why everyone is counting on you to beat Team Plasma. And that's why, when you're beaten, everyone else will give up."

"Don't think that we're as weak as Team Plasma is! There are plenty of others still willing to fight!"

Black glanced around at the voice. Cheren was standing at the doorway on the right side of the room, Bianca clinging to his arm with a somewhat worried expression on her face.

"And I'm sure an injured Gym Leader is going to put up a good fight," Ghetsis mocked.

_Injured?_ Black's eyes widened slightly in surprise. This was the first time he'd seen Cheren since they entered this place, and he hadn't noticed until now that the gym leader didn't seem entirely steady on his feet. No wonder Bianca looked so worried.

"Stay outta this, Cheren!" Black warned.

"Black, you idiot! Don't face Ghetsis on your own! The technology may be off by now, but you know how strong his Pokémon are!"

"Thanks, Cheren. That's a great vote of confidence," Black tutted, clapping a few times to add to his sarcasm. "Nice to know you have so much faith in me."

Cheren didn't reply, only giving him a fierce glare at the fact that Black was mocking him. _Well, we know he's not too injured, at least._

"Hugh! White! Get over here!" Black called.

"Huh?" White blinked. "Okay…"

"You got a plan or somethin'?" Hugh muttered as the two of them walked over to join him.

"Yep. Now send out Serperior and Emboar."

The two of them exchanged a glance. Then Hugh shrugged, sending out the grass snake. "C'mon, Serperior."

White took Emboar's Pokéball from her belt. "I hope you know what you're doing, Black…" She released Emboar from his Pokéball. The fire Pokémon shook the ground slightly as he landed and Serperior shuffled a few inches back, not wanting to be near the fire around his neck.

"So you all intend to fight, I see," Ghetsis mumbled. "So you three aren't keen on playing fair either. How fitting for a bunch of kids."

Black ignored the insult. "Triple battle. If you're really that obsessed with fairness all of a sudden, each of us will only use two of our Pokémon."

"Very well then." As Ghetsis scanned the room quickly, he seemed to get a somewhat suspicious look on his face. He glanced at White. "I see that boy isn't with you anymore. Does that mean—?"

"He's not dead, if that's what you're thinking," White snapped. "And neither is Reshiram. Your attempt to kill us failed, just like your attempt to win this battle will!"

Black raised an eyebrow. He still didn't know exactly what had happened back there, other than that the floor had collapsed, but he hadn't seen anyone manage to set off White so easily before.

Ah well. He wasn't going to start teasing her about anything like that while Ghetsis was here. Probably.

"Right. We're going to win. And when we do, Ghetsis, you have to give up on your crazy plans for Team Plasma."

"Yes, although you won't be winning. When I defeat the three of you, you must leave this place and give Team Plasma the power we deserve."

"What, none?" Hugh scoffed.

"At Twist Mountain, I gave you two choices," Ghetsis continued, ignoring Hugh's remark. "To hand over the legendary dragons or to allow Team Plasma to rule Unova. Once you three are defeated, either of those will do."

"So in other words, whoever wins this battle wins the whole fight," Hugh shrugged.

"Pretty much," Black nodded. "So now we just gotta make sure it's us!"


	24. All Comes Down To This

**Whup, sorry this chapter is kinda late (as in, like, 5 days late? OTL), I was in London over the weekend... and you get rewarded for your patience by a Pokémon battle. Nyerghs.**

**So then. The final battle.**

**... Or is it?**

* * *

White paid close attention to the layout of the Pokémon as the battle seemed about to begin. She wasn't entirely sure that she wanted to do this. The last time she faced Ghetsis in battle, not all of her Pokémon had come out alive afterwards...

No. She couldn't think like that. Not now. Black and Hugh were fighting alongside her. They needed her help. It wasn't fair on them if she decided to give up now. It wouldn't be fair to her Pokémon either. She needed to believe in their ability to win this fight, and then they would.

Right…?

Although, she had to admit, seeing the three fully-evolved starter Pokémon lined up was impressive. Samurott stood proudly in the middle, every now and then running a claw over his fur as if he thought that would have some effect on the battle. On the right was Serperior, who was sat silently, glaring at the enemy through narrowed eyes. Glancing at Hugh, White couldn't help but think how similarly the two of them were acting right now. Although, given what she'd seen of Hugh's attitude when someone made him angry…

And then there was her and Emboar on the left. The trainer and Pokémon probably looked very different. Emboar stood tall, a confident look in his eyes and every now and then a small puff of smoke shooting from his nose. The Pokémon looked ready to fight. The trainer didn't. White was stood nervously, scanning back and forth over Ghetsis's Pokémon, trying desperately to work out what his strategy might be but her mind too full of all the things that could go wrong for her to really concentrate.

On the opposite side, Ghetsis's Pokémon seemed strangely threatening. He must have had some kind of plan. He knew what order the three of them were in and would probably have positioned his own Pokémon in a way to reach their weaknesses. And yet White couldn't think. She should have been able to work out how exactly they'd be in danger but she just _couldn't_.

Seismitoad was in the centre of the three Pokémon, Hydreigon on Emboar's side and Eelektross on Serperior's. All of the Pokémon were spread out across the room to avoid getting caught in attacks not aimed at them, and at Black's orders anyone who wasn't part of the fight – namely Cheren, Bianca and Colress – had moved to the safety of the adjacent corridors.

It was all up to them now. The result of this fight would be either saving all the Pokémon, or dooming Unova to be ruled over by a madman. The fate of the country rested on three teenagers. That thought didn't exactly make her feel any better.

"Seismitoad, use Earthquake!"

White barely registered the order until she noticed the massive blue toad jump as high as it was able to, landing heavily back on the ground again and sending a massive shock wave throughout the room.

"Emboar!" she gasped.

Concrete exploded all around due to the small earthquake and the fire Pokémon nearly lost his balance, roaring as the ground shook beneath him. Once the trembling subsided White attempted to run over to her Pokémon, but Emboar glanced back at her, holding out an arm and snorting, as if to tell her to stay back.

White hesitated. "… Okay. Use Hammer Arm on Hydreigon."

Neither Hydreigon nor Eelektross had been affected by the earthquake thanks to their levitate abilities. It seemed that had been a good move on Ghetsis's part; choosing an attack that would only affect their Pokémon and not his. At least Emboar was the only one it had done sustainable damage to. Samurott seemed frustrated more than anything as he quickly ruffled his fur, and Serperior had hardly been affected at all.

Emboar charged forwards, lifting a heavy arm into the air and bringing it crashing down on Hydreigon. The dark dragon screeched as it was hit and sent sprawling to the ground, wings and extra heads flailing.

It hadn't fainted. Not yet.

"Samurott, Ice Beam!"

The water Pokémon snarled, sending a beam of ice shooting at Hydreigon. It hadn't even had the chance to get up completely before it was hit again, thrown backwards, the ice smashing as it hit the floor. This time, Hydreigon didn't get back up.

_We've defeated Hydreigon, _White thought silently, realisation setting in as Ghetsis sent the Pokémon back to its Pokémon with a scowl on his face. _That used to be Ghetsis's strongest Pokémon. Maybe we can actually do this…!_

Toxicroak was sent out in Hydreigon's place. Its cheeks inflated slightly as it let out a noise which was probably supposed to be a growl.

"Serperior, Grass Blade!"

The snake shot forward at Hugh's command, summoning a blade of grass as he quickly slithered towards Seismitoad. It tried to avoid the attack but couldn't move fast enough. Serperior whipped around it, slicing the water-ground type with the blade three times before quickly hopping out of the way as it collapsed, fainted.

Ghetsis's scowl was starting to turn into more of a look of frustration. "Eelektross!" he snapped as he returned the fainted Pokémon to its Pokéball, sending out Cofagrigus in its place. "Use Thunderbolt!"

Black jumped back in surprise as a massive thunderbolt crackled through the air. "Samurott!"

The water Pokémon roared as he was hit by the electricity. Even once the thunderbolt vanished, there still seemed to be electricity sparking through his body. A few moments later the sparks faded, but Samurott hadn't managed to withstand the attack. The Pokémon collapsed to the ground, fainted.

Black hurriedly returned the Pokémon to his Pokéball. Clearly he was still worried that Ghetsis might try and kill them off. "Zoroark!"

The dark fox gave a vicious snarl as he appeared, glaring at Ghetsis. Zoroark probably had just as many reasons as them to hate the man, if not more. Especially after how he'd manipulated N in the past…

They'd get him back for that. They'd beat Ghetsis.

"Eelektross, use Flamethrower!"

Taking in a deep breath, the large eel sent a pillar of flames shooting across the room. Serperior shrieked as he was caught in the fire, the leaves on his head remaining alight for a few seconds even after the flames had vanished. He quickly shook his head, putting out the flames and fixing the enemy with a fierce glare. At least Serperior hadn't fainted.

They were doing well so far. They'd defeated two of Ghetsis's Pokémon and he'd only defeated one of theirs. Now they just had to keep this up for the rest of the battle and they'd win.

Right now White didn't know what to do. Emboar didn't have any super effective moves against Toxicroak or Cofagrigus, and he wouldn't be able to reach Eelektross. Perhaps she should switch out. No, she could only use two Pokémon in this fight. They were just going to have to try and do what they could.

"Emboar, use Flamethrower on Cofagrigus," she said quietly. This was all she could think of for now.

Nodding, Emboar gave a quiet grunt, and then sent a pillar of flames shooting at the ghost. The fire sent it hiding back inside its tomb for a moment, popping back out again once the flames had dispersed. It hadn't done much damage, but it had done something. That was the main thing, right?

Ghetsis almost seemed to smirk at the feeble attack. "Toxicroak, use Shadow Ball on that Emboar. And Cofagrigus, use Toxic. Try and get that brat if you can."

"What!?" Hugh cried, glancing down in shock to see the ground underneath him starting to turn purple.

"Zoroark, Night Daze!" Black cried urgently.

White just froze. Toxic left a Pokémon badly poisoned. The poison from that Seviper had been enough to completely knock Black out the last time they were here; she didn't even want to think about what bad poisoning would do.

At the trainer's command, Zoroark lifted his front paws into the air, ready to send a dark wave at Cofagrigus. Yet the ghost was already part way into the attack; there was no way the fox would be quick enough to stop it.

"Hugh!" Black shouted.

The blue-haired boy had frozen, his eyes wide in somewhat panic. That look quickly changed to shock as something hit him square in the chest and he was flung backwards.

Serperior had shoved him out of the way just in time. Yet he hadn't been fast enough to avoid the attack as well. The snake wailed as the ground glowed an even brighter purple. Then the glow faded and the grass type slumped to the ground.

Hugh quickly sat up, blinking in surprise. Then he gasped. "Serperior!"

Letting out an agitated hiss, Serperior managed to lift his head off the ground. He was still glaring at Ghetsis. As Hugh ran over, he managed to cast a glance up at his trainer, letting out a quiet whine. Yet the poison had taken its toll, and a few moments after the trainer patted his head, the Pokémon fainted.

"You did good, Serperior," Hugh praised, sending the Pokémon back.

"Did _well_, Hugh."

"Not the time, Cheren!" Black tutted.

White had been busy watching the others. It was only a loud snarl that snapped her attention back to the battle as Emboar was thrown over backwards by a dark ball of matter.

"Emboar!" she cried.

The fire pig didn't respond. He was defeated.

Hurriedly, White sent him back to his Pokéball, quickly looking around the room. She had to make her next decision carefully. Zoroark's attack had defeated Cofagrigus thanks to the damage they'd done to the ghost previously and Drapion had been sent out in its place.

Hugh's second Pokémon was Flygon. He hovered just above the ground, flapping his undersized wings, watching the opponents carefully with his large red eyes. Ground-type moves would be useless against Eelektross given that it was levitating, but at least Flygon would probably be able to withstand most of the eel Pokémon's attacks.

Except one. It knew Dragon Claw. White would never be able to forget that…

At least with the electric-type on the other side of the room she wouldn't have to worry about its attacks. Zoroark wouldn't be able to do much against Toxicroak. Maybe she should focus on that for now.

"C'mon, Sigilyph," she said quietly, hoping not to distract too much attention to her Pokémon. With Drapion out here, sending out Sigilyph could be risky. Yet she didn't have to worry too much about stealing the attention.

"Flygon, use Draco Meteor!"

The attack wasn't at full power. It couldn't be without bringing down half the building. But Eelektross was still hit by a lot of the rocks falling from the air, injuring it pretty badly.

"Now, use Earthquake!"

A lot of Flygon's power had gone into that last attack. Asking him to use another one so soon wasn't the best idea. Yet as the small dragon smashed into the ground, the shock wave that spread through the room was still pretty powerful. It didn't reach Toxicroak or Sigilyph – the flying Pokémon wouldn't have been affected by it anyway – but Zoroark gave a snarl as the ground shook underneath his paws.

"The hell, Hugh!?" Black exclaimed.

"It didn't do much damage to him, geez," Hugh muttered.

Eelektross hadn't been affected at all either, having managed to float back up after that last attack. But Drapion had taken a lot of damage, scrambling back to its feet and snapping its claws as it glared at the opposition.

Right now they were at three Pokémon each. It was more or less even. Yet they'd been ahead at one point. Could they still win?

"Sigilyph," she commanded quietly. "Use Air Slash on Drapion."

Drapion wasn't bug type anymore, but it was still pretty weak from that Earthquake. The attack was enough to defeat it.

As the battle wore on, Ghetsis was starting to look ever more frustrated. Clearly he'd expected to beat them easily. Now he was down to his last two Pokémon.

Still, he hadn't given up yet.

"Eelektross, use Dragon Claw!"

White glanced away as Eelektross charged at Flygon, slicing him with its powerful claws. The shriek the dragon let out and the sound of it crashing to the ground as it fainted were all too familiar to her.

Hugh let out a quiet huff, returning Flygon to his Pokéball. "Guess it's up to you two," he muttered. "You'd better win, okay?"

"If we don't, I'm sure the consequences are much worse than anything you could do, Hugh," Black gave a wry smile.

"Yeah, but I can hit you anyways."

"Oh, thanks." Black rolled his eyes. "Zoroark, use Night Daze on Eelektross."

"Toxicroak, Brick Break!"

Zoroark was fast. Faster than Toxicroak. The fox slammed his front paws onto the ground, sending a dark wave of energy towards the electric Pokémon. After taking the meteor attack earlier, the power was too much for Eelektross.

Yet Zoroark didn't have any chance of evading the attack aimed at him either. Toxicroak landed a heavy karate chop on the dark fox. He let out a yowl as he was thrown backwards, sprawling to the ground, his mane flopping over his head. He didn't get back up.

"Ack…" Black muttered. He held out a Pokéball. "Come back, Zoroark. You did good—I mean, well." He corrected himself before Cheren had the chance to.

Although, the gym leader wouldn't have noticed anyway. He was too intent on watching the battle. Ghetsis only had Toxicroak left now. Yet Black and Hugh had no Pokémon left out of the two each of them had used either…

_Oh no… no, no, no!_

It couldn't be all down to her.

She'd come here to try and help the others, unsure whether she was confident enough even to do that after what had happened last time. She couldn't defeat Ghetsis on her own!

_N-no… I-I can't… I can't do it…_

White just froze, her mouth running dry. She didn't know what to do. She wasn't sure if she could even speak right now. A thousand thoughts swam through her head and for a moment the room seemed to spin.

"White! Don't you dare give up on us now!"

She gasped, snapped out of her panic attack by Black. He'd backed away slightly so that he'd hopefully be out of the way of the battle, but he still had a confident look in his eyes. He still thought she could win.

_No… no, I can't…!_

"You can do it, White!" Bianca cheered. "We know you can!"

"Yeah. White, you're a stronger trainer than Ghetsis. You beat him two years ago, you can do it again!" Cheren added.

"I'm not really one for cheering on sides, but I'd say that there is a fair possibility to win still," Colress commented plainly.

"Yeah! Win this!" Hugh shouted.

"Thanks, guys, even if you're not exactly helping," White said with a nervous laugh.

She took a deep, shaky breath, trying to clear her mind. They were right. She couldn't give up. Not now. Not when the fate of Unova rested on her shoulders.

Throughout all of this, Ghetsis had been waiting, glaring around at the others. Why didn't he get Toxicroak to attack? Or had the cheering just distracted him?

No matter. If he was being careless then she was going to take advantage of that. "Sigilyph, use Psychic."

"Toxicroak, Sucker Punch!"

_No!_

The poison frog shot forwards, eyes shining with fierce power as it jumped, hitting the psychic Pokémon with the fast dark attack. Sigilyph shrieked as she was thrown backwards in the air, crashing to the ground a few metres away.

"Sigilyph!" White cried.

For a moment her heart went to her throat.

Yet Sigilyph hadn't fainted. The colourful Pokémon fluttered back into the air, hovering beside White and letting out a chirp. She'd been weakened by the attack, but she wasn't defeated yet.

Eyes glowing, Sigilyph screeched as she sent a wave of psychic energy shooting at the frog. Toxicroak was easily caught in the attack, freezing completely as the power coursed through it.

Once the energy faded, Toxicroak stood for a moment, glaring at them.

Then it collapsed to the ground, defeated.

For a few seconds, White just stared at the fainted Pokémon.

_I… I did it…? I won..?_

"Aw yeah!" Black whooped, running over to her. "White, you did it! You beat him!"

"I—whoa!" White's eyes widened slightly as he gave her a victory hug and she was lifted off the ground. "Okay, okay! Thanks," she smiled as he put her back down again. She sent Sigilyph back to her Pokéball.

"I knew you had it in ya," he grinned.

"Enough!"

Immediately White glanced over at Ghetsis, instinctively moving away slightly. The look in his eye terrified her. Anger. Frustration. Disappointment. Even borderline insanity. Yet the emotion that showed through most clearly was an immense amount of hatred.

"We won fair and square, Ghetsis!" Black reminded him. "You know what we agreed. Give up on Team Plasma and your crazy schemes – for good this time!"

"How could I lose to a bunch of pathetic _kids_!?" Ghetsis snapped, his voice so loud in anger that it echoed around the room when he spoke.

"I dunno. But you did," Black shrugged.

"Tch…" Ghetsis glared at them for a moment. "No," he continued, his voice lowering back to an eerie calm. "You're not kids. Kids would not have been crazy enough to fight me. You three were, and you got lucky and won. That's all."

"You still have to keep your word," Black added meaningfully. "If you don't do as you said and put an end to all this crap Team Plasma is doing, we can stop you by force. We've proven that we're stronger than you."

"And I have no doubt that you'd try," Ghetsis mumbled, his eyes still flaming with his rage but other than that he seemed oddly calm. "Shadow Triad!"

At his command, the three shadows appeared at his side instantly. The leader of the trio had his mask back on now, but the side of his face still looked swollen slightly from where he'd been hit.

"I'm not always a man of my word, but you lot are convinced you've won," Ghetsis sneered. "So very well, we'll be leaving now. In the meantime, have fun dealing with Team Plasma's secret weapon."

_Secret weapon…?_

It was then she noticed that Ghetsis had something in his hand. It almost looked like some kind of remote. The type of remote seen in cartoons; there was only one button on it. A red button. That couldn't be good…

"Hey! We're not letting you get away!" Black snapped. He held out a Pokéball.

"You don't have any choice," Dark stated. He was holding the orb that Ghetsis had used before to block the Pokéball signals; although this time they were using it to stop them from sending out their Pokémon instead.

"Farewell!" Ghetsis smirked, pressing the button on the remote. Then he and the Shadow Triad vanished, the orb tossed aside albeit still turned on.

The second the switch was activated, alarms sounded throughout the warehouse, spinning red lights flickering at the sides of the room. White looked around in shock, trying to work out what was going on. What did that button do?

Suddenly there was a loud clanking noise that echoed around as if it was coming from more than one place. Shutters fell over the doors of the room, hitting the ground with a crash. Everyone who hadn't been in the room was cut off from sight, including Hugh who had to hurriedly jump back before he was hit by a heavy sheet of metal.

"He's shut us in here!" Black cried.

"We can't use our Pokémon either…" White muttered, scanning the room. "I don't know what this would actually do though. They've just put the warehouse into lockdown. It's not as if we're going to be stuck in here forever—"

She broke off at a loud noise from nearby, turning her head to see where it had come from. It was from somewhere outside the room they were in, but that sound was familiar. Painfully familiar. For a brief moment White felt hope rise inside her but it was quickly replaced by a feeling of utter dread as she realised what this meant.

They hadn't just locked the building down. That button had done something else as well.

_No… please, no…!_

The wall on the far side of the room shattered, scattering rubble across the room. Black ducked just in time to avoid getting hit by a large shard of metal.

"What the—"

White didn't even attempt to answer his unfinished sentence.

_No…_

There was something standing at the large gap in the wall. Red eyes glowed with an unrecognising hatred. The surrounding area was painted blue by the glow of electricity as the large black dragon stepped forward, letting out an ear-splitting roar.

_Zekrom…!_


	25. Fire and Thunder

"No… no…!"

White's cries brought Black back to his senses, snapping out of the shock that had paralysed him. How was this even possible?

Zekrom was on the other side of the room, glaring at them, a growl deep in his throat. Black wanted to believe that it wasn't really him, but the dragon was the only one of his kind, one of the legendaries. Yet he didn't seem to recognise them.

And not to mention, Zekrom was supposed to be dead.

Had Team Plasma managed to revive him somehow? Black knew it was possible to revive a fainted Pokémon, but a _dead_ one?

Still, Team Plasma had a lot of technology. More than Black's understanding could handle. And they'd had to leave Zekrom here when they faced the gang before, the dragon too heavy for them to carry out and unable to return the lifeless form to a Pokéball. But why would they do something like bringing the legendary dragon back to life after they went to all the effort of killing it in the first place?

Of course. Ghetsis had called it Team Plasma's 'secret weapon'. This must have been a last resort. And now they were trapped in here, unable to use their Pokémon, with a powerful dragon.

_Oh, great. So this is what they were doing._

Thanks to Zekrom there was now a massive hole in the wall, at least. So there _was_ a way out. The only problem was that way was currently blocked by the Pokémon. Whatever Team Plasma had done to bring him back to life, he clearly didn't recognise his old trainer. If they tried to escape past him they could end up getting attacked or, even worse, killed.

Black glanced over at his friend. White had completely frozen, staring up at Zekrom with a mixture of fear and distress. She looked on the brink of crying. And after all the trouble she'd had getting over what had happened here before, to be faced with this now, Black couldn't help but be concerned for her.

"White, snap out of it!" he gripped her shoulders. "We have to get out of here somehow."

"How?" White asked feebly. She sounded like she'd given up. She'd managed to remain more or less confident until now, it seemed, but this had finally been too much for her. Perhaps it had been cruel of him to persuade her to help them in this fight.

"I don't know," Black admitted. "But we'll find some way out."

The alarms had stopped blaring by now. At least that meant it he could hear himself think again. It also meant he noticed a sudden sound from nearby, glancing around in surprise.

"Look out!" he gasped, pushing White aside and only just managing to jump out of the way himself as a pillar of energy seared the ground. It seemed Zekrom was going to attack them anyway.

"Sorry," Black apologised as White dejectedly picked herself up off the ground. He glanced around the room. There had to be another way of escaping. He didn't want to die here.

Eventually his eyes came to rest on the orb. A small red light flashed on it, showing it was still activated. But it couldn't be too difficult to turn off, right?

"I got it!" he announced, looking to White but trying to keep an eye on Zekrom at the same time in case the dragon tried to attack again. "If we can turn off the orb then we can send out our Pokémon. Looks like we'll have to fight out way out."

White's eyes flew wide. "N-no, I can't…! I can't fight… I-I can't hurt Zekrom…"

"White, it's not really Zekrom!" Black exclaimed, hoping he wasn't being insensitive. "If it was, he wouldn't be trying to kill us! Team Plasma must have done something to him. I don't know what, but… this is the only way out of here."

"But…" she moved away slightly. "Black, I just… I can't… I'm sorry…"

Black's expression softened slightly. "No, it's okay. Leave this to me, 'kay? Just try and make sure you don't get attacked."

She glanced up at him for a few seconds, her eyes still glazed with fear. Then she nodded.

"Okay. Well, here goes…" Black turned to face the dragon, tossing his bag aside so that it wouldn't slow him down.

The metal orb had rolled to the ground nary five metres away from Zekrom. If Black was going to try and retrieve it then he'd have to somehow avoid getting killed in the process. This was one of the few times he wondered if perhaps he depended on his Pokémon too much. If he had them to help him, this would be a lot easier – and a lot less dangerous.

At least right now the dragon's attention was focused on him rather than White. In her current state, she probably wouldn't be able to do much to stand up for herself…

And what was he supposed to do when he could use his Pokémon again? Sure, he'd be able to defend against the dragon then and they would have a better chance of escaping, but what would happen to Zekrom after that? If Ghetsis had been able to command Zekrom he probably would have stayed to do so. When Team Plasma brought the dragon back, they'd changed him into a killing machine, not afraid to attack them. They couldn't just leave him, especially so close to a city crowded with people. As much as he hated to admit it, they might end up having to kill him.

Would White be able to handle watching her Pokémon die a second time?

There had to be another way. But right now, Black needed to get to that orb…

Zekrom gave a snarl, energy starting to build up around the dragon's mouth. He was going to attack again.

_Well, here goes nothing, _Black thought silently, taking off at a run and hoping he wouldn't get hit.

A purple glow lit up the room as Zekrom sent a pillar of energy shooting through the air. Black skidded to a halt as the ground in front of him nearly imploded, falling over backwards out of surprise. So much for 'if he ran fast enough the attack wouldn't hit him'. Even totally brainwashed, Zekrom was still smart enough to know that he'd be more likely to hit if he aimed the attack in front of him, not at him.

The dragon attacked again, and Black managed to scramble away just in time before he was hit. He tried making a dash for the orb once more but Zekrom was faster, and this time Black felt the draft from the energy against his face.

"Dammit, Zekrom!" Black huffed. "Stop attacking me and maybe we can find a way to help you, geez!"

Either not understanding or just plain ignoring his words, Zekrom sent another Dragon Breath attack shooting at him. His attacks weren't as powerful as before now, but he wasn't taking as long to charge them either. Still, from the way the ground was seared by them, getting hit was not an option. Black made a slightly overdramatic dive out of the way, narrowly avoiding the wave of energy.

The dragon was charging for another attack. Black didn't know how much longer he could keep avoiding them. Already he could feel his heart racing in his chest. There was every chance that he could die here.

Suddenly there was another fierce roar from somewhere nearby. Immediately Zekrom stopped charging the attack, the dragon glancing around with a snort as if he was trying to work out where the sound had come from.

That roar was familiar. Black couldn't decide whether he was relieved or not.

Metal scattered across the room yet again as the opposite wall shattered. A couple of white feathers fluttered to the ground as Reshiram forced her way into the room, letting out another loud roar.

And, of course, N was sat on the dragon's back, looking slightly alarmed at the sight before him.

"Geez," Black muttered to himself, scrambling back to his feet now that Zekrom was too distracted to attack him. "These dragons sure know how to make an entrance…"

* * *

White practically jumped out of her skin as Reshiram burst into the room. Clearly the dragon had recovered since the collapsing floor incident earlier, but why were they here now?

"Nice of you to show up, N," Black called. "It's not like we were about to get killed or anything."

"Reshiram knew that something was happening to Zekrom," N stated, ignoring the trainer's sarcasm. "What's going on?"

"What do you _think_? Team Plasma locked us in here with a rampaging dragon that they somehow brought back from the dead!" He rolled his eyes. "Y'know what? Just cover me; I need to switch this damn thing off…" He made a dive for the orb.

Zekrom ignored the trainer this time. His attention was on the white dragon across the room as he let out a snarl. Reshiram responded with a despondent huff, still hovering in the air.

White remembered when N and Reshiram had first rejoined them a few days ago. The legendary dragons had seemed so happy to see each other again.

_Zekrom, what have they done to you…?_

"Aha!" Black cheered as he snagged the orb, pressing a button on it. The blinking red light vanished. "I turned off the—whoa!" he jumped out of the way as Zekrom blasted another wave of energy towards him. Hurriedly he took a Pokéball from his belt. "Lucario!"

Red light split through the air and the aura Pokémon appeared with a grunt, looking up at the dragons with wide eyes.

"White, send out one of your Pokémon!" Black shouted.

"W-what? Black, I can't fight Zekrom…!"

"Whether you're fighting or not, they can still protect you! I may not be the Pokémon whisperer but I'm pretty sure they don't want you to get killed!"

"But…" she started, trailing off. Right now White could hardly make sense of anything. This was all just too much…

Still, she managed to nod and send out Excadrill.

"The Dark Stone…" N muttered.

"Eh?" Black threw him a confused glance.

"The Dark Stone. That must be how Team Plasma is using Zekrom. He must have transformed back to the dark stone after they killed him, like in the legend…"

"Well, I guess that explains how he's here," Black shrugged. "But what are we supposed to do? As far as I can tell, the only way to stop Zekrom is to kill him again!"

White was in too much of a daze to protest. Luckily N did it for her.

"No!" he cried. "No killing! He doesn't have to die!"

"Trust me, N; I don't fancy being a Pokémon murderer any more than you do! But if you have any better ideas you better spill 'em now!"

Throwing Black a frustrated glance, N looked back over at Zekrom, an almost pleading look in his eyes. For a moment, nobody said a word. The black dragon gave a threatening growl.

"Zekrom's still in there," N said eventually. "But the power Team Plasma used to control him has put him like this… I-I don't know what to do, I just… I don't know if I could get through to him…"

He sounded desperate. N was trying to think of some way of saving Zekrom without having to kill him.

White wanted to help. She really did. But right now she could barely even think clearly. Her head had been spinning ever since she'd first heard the sound of revived Zekrom. Why did she have to be so useless?

She slapped a hand to her head, wincing slightly as she managed to catch the place where she'd been hit earlier. Just think. If she could think of a way to help Zekrom then maybe they could save him.

He didn't remember them. He didn't even recognise Reshiram. It was almost as if Team Plasma had forced him from the Dark Stone, like he wasn't ready to come back, and his conscience had been wiped out in the process…

Desperately she tried to think if any of that had any meaning. The part about not remembering seemed familiar. White had heard of people getting amnesia, forgetting memories… she doubted this was the same thing. But that did give her an idea. Not that she was entirely pleased with it.

"If… maybe if he faints… that might work too…" she suggested, raising her voice as much as she dared so that the others would hear her.

"White…" N said quietly. She flinched, expecting him to snap at her for suggesting something that would hurt the dragon, but to her surprised relief his voice remained level. "I guess… that might work… it's better than killing him, at least, so—"

He broke off suddenly as Zekrom sent another pulse of energy shooting through the air. Reshiram screeched as she was hit by the dragon-type attack and forced backwards.

"N!" White cried.

"Hang on, Reshiram!" N pleaded, narrowly managing to avoid falling from the dragon's back as he wrapped his arms around her neck. Reshiram managed to regain her composure, flying back forwards again with a huff.

"Well, looks like White's idea is all we've got at the moment," Black muttered. "It's either that or we all end up as toast. White, let us handle this."

"No," she protested, sounding a whole lot more confident than she felt. "If it means saving Zekrom, I'll fight too." As much as she didn't want to hurt the dragon, she couldn't bear to see him like this either.

Black's eyes widened slightly. The he nodded. "Okay. Let's do this! Lucario, use Dragon Pulse!"

Still looking slightly intimidated by the massive dragon Pokémon, Lucario let out a loud yowl, sending a shock wave at Zekrom. He snarled as it hit him, backing away slightly.

_Looks like it's our turn now._ "Excadrill, use Drill Run."

The mole charged forward, jumping when she was moving fast enough and using the metal on her claws and head to form a drill shape. Zekrom let out a loud wail as Excadrill crashed into him and swatted the mole away with one arm. Excadrill fell to the ground, rolling over a few times before managing to land on her feet once more, growling quietly.

"Ah—hey! Reshiram—!"

White glanced over in surprise just in time to see the white dragon practically drag N from her back, dropping him on the ground nearby. At his protest, she let out a grumble.

"What was that for!?"

Reshiram gave a quiet yowl in response. Even White could work out what the dragon meant.

_She doesn't want him to get hurt…_

That theory was proven a moment later as the white dragon was hit by Zekrom, shrouded in blue lightning. Fusion Bolt.

"Reshiram!"

Launched half way across the room, Reshiram let out a fierce roar, summoning a massive fireball in the air and sending it flying at the black dragon. N had to hold up an arm to defend himself as fire and lightning collided in the air.

"N, if I were you I'd get outta the firing line!" Black warned.

Not replying to his warning but obviously taking it in, N scrambled out of the way, narrowly avoiding getting hit by another of Zekrom's Dragon Breath attacks. Reshiram hurriedly flew in front of the black dragon, letting out a screech, her eyes glowing as Zekrom was hit by an Extrasensory attack. Letting out a snarl, the black dragon crashed to the ground.

_This is starting to turn into a fight between the legendary dragons, _White thought to herself. _Lucario and Excadrill can't attack without the risk of hitting Reshiram by accident…_

Obviously N had picked up on that as well. He was standing not far away, a worried look in his eyes.

Reshiram flew back slightly as Zekrom got back up off the ground. He wasn't defeated yet, nowhere near.

"Zekrom!" N called. "Why are you doing this? Whatever Team Plasma has done to you, try and snap out of it! I don't know if you can hear me, but… please…!"

The black dragon turned to face him, using his wings to hover just above the ground. He watched the green-haired teen through narrowed eyes. Eventually he started to fly towards him.

_Did N manage to get through to him…?_

No. She recognised the way that Zekrom held his arm up slightly, claws glinting in the dim light.

"N, look out!" she called. "He's trying to use Dragon Claw!"

N stood his ground. From across the room, Reshiram growled, summoning a large fireball in the air and sending it flying at the dragon.

But White noticed how Zekrom's eyes quickly flicked to the white dragon while she was creating the attack. She knew he was going to avoid it. And she knew that she had to do something before N got hurt again.

The fireball smashed into the ground, narrowly missing Zekrom, and N's expression changed to a look of somewhat fear, knowing he wouldn't be able to get away in time. But having realised what was going to happen, White was already running.

"N!" she cried, hoping she'd be able to make it.

She just managed to catch a glimpse of the shocked look on his face as she rammed into his side, shoving him out of the way of the attack.

Yet she wasn't fast enough to save herself too.

White screamed as she felt the dragon's claws slice through her skin. She fell to the ground, blood staining the concrete floor.


	26. Regrets

**Hooray for flashbacks! That is all.**

* * *

"So… what are you going to do now, N?"

Sunlight glimmered on broken glass, causing a maze of patterns to paint the stone floor of the castle in a rainbow of colours. Rubble lay scattered on the ground, proof of the recent battles. Yet now, with light pouring in through the shattered window, the dilapidated castle almost seemed… elegant somehow.

There was a moment of silence, the only sound being Reshiram's wings as the white dragon hovered just outside the window.

"I… I don't know. But I have to work this out for myself," N stated, looking determined. "And… I need to find some way to put right everything I've done wrong."

_You didn't do anything wrong. Not on purpose, _White thought silently, but she couldn't find the courage to say so out loud. "Well… good luck…"

N looked surprised for a moment. As if he was confused as to why the person who'd opposed him so many times during his journey was being nice to him. He smiled. "Thank you. I know you probably don't think all that much of me after how I acted, but… I'll miss you. You're the first human friend I've ever had."

_Friend. _Up until now, she'd only heard him reserve that word to describe Pokémon. She wanted to reply, tell him that it didn't matter that they'd fought so many times since they met. Yet she just couldn't summon the correct words. She only managed to respond to one part of what he'd just said.

"You're… you're leaving?"

"Yeah," N nodded, an almost regretful look in his eyes. "As much as Unova is home to me… I can't stay. Not after everything I've done. But I'm sure we'll meet again someday!" He held up one arm in a wave as he turned to walk towards the window where the dragon was waiting. "Farewell."

White said nothing as he climbed onto the dragon's back. He was really leaving. She didn't even know how she should react. Yet as he cast a final glance back at her she bit her lip, forcing a smile and praying that the tears brimming in her eyes wouldn't spill over as she waved him off.

And just like that, the trainer and dragon were gone.

For a moment White just stood there, watching the empty arc of sky she could see from here. Almost unconsciously she reached for Zekrom's Pokéball. Perhaps she should go after him. But what if he didn't want her to? He'd left to find out what he wanted to do. He was finally free from his manipulative father; he probably just wanted to do things on his own.

But what if she never saw him again?

Why should that even matter to her?

* * *

"White… White, wake up, please…!"

The voice was the first sound to break through the haziness as her senses slowly started to return to her. She'd blacked out? She couldn't even remember what was going on.

_But why… why did I remember that moment now…?_

White managed to open her eyes slightly. Everything was fuzzy still, but there was certainly a lot of grey here. And… red…?

Now she remembered.

Gasping, she tried to get up, but flinched as she got a stabbing pain in her arm. _Just… try and ignore that for now…_

"Oh, thank Arceus, you're alive!"

Managing to scramble into something of a sitting position, White glanced up in surprise to see N sat by her, a relieved smile on his face. Unshed tears glinted in his eyes and he hurriedly wiped them away with the back of his hand.

"Barely," White muttered. At another stab of pain her hand flew to her left shoulder – and was drawn back quickly as that made the pain even worse. White was left looking at her hand in shock as she realised it was now covered with blood.

Eyes widening slightly, she looked down at her arm. A wide gash ran right the way from her shoulder to her elbow, and there was an awful lot of blood on both her arm and the floor around her. Not to mention it stung like fury and she found herself fighting back tears. White wasn't good at dealing with pain… or blood…

"White… I-I'm sorry, I… you're hurt… it's my fault…!" N choked out, looking on the verge of crying.

"No… no, N, it's okay," White assured through gritted teeth as she clutched her arm, trying to endure the pain. It was more difficult than she thought. "My own fault… not yours…"

"But…" he started, but trailed off at the sound of a low growl from Reshiram.

Managing to look across the room, White realised that the white dragon was growling at Zekrom. He'd been standing in the centre of the room for a while, but Reshiram's warning had come when the black dragon took a step towards them.

"Hey!" Black snapped, running over to stand in front of Zekrom. "You wanna hurt them you gotta go through me first!"

Zekrom halted, letting out a sound that almost sounded like a whimper. The unrecognising glare in the dragon's eyes had changed. Now it was almost a look of sadness and fear…

Reshiram's growl faded as she blinked in surprise. She cast a glance towards N, letting out a quiet snort.

"It's okay, Black," N said quietly. "He won't hurt anyone. Let him past."

"Huh?" the trainer glanced back, looking confused. "But—okay, you're supposedly the Pokémon expert here. Don't blame me if you get sliced." He reluctantly stepped aside.

The path now clear, Zekrom warily made his way forward to stand in front of them. Giving a vague grumble, he reached down so he was on eye-level with the trainer, nudging her non-injured shoulder with his nose.

"Zekrom…" White murmured.

He was back. This wasn't the mindless creature Team Plasma had created. The shock of injuring his old trainer had brought him back. This was Zekrom again. Her Pokémon. The one who'd spent two years with her, the one who'd helped save Unova from Team Plasma, the one who she thought she'd never see again after they'd killed him…

Unable to keep up her calm composure any longer, White threw her right arm around the dragon's neck in a one-armed hug, trying to avoid getting any blood on him.

"I'm sorry..." she sobbed, burying her face in Zekrom's scaly neck. "I'm such a useless trainer… I'm so sorry, Zekrom…!"

Giving a quiet growl, Zekrom rested his head briefly on her back, letting out a faint sigh. He didn't blame her. Not for anything. He just sounded sad…

"It's not your fault, friend," N smiled, resting a hand on the dragon's nose. "You couldn't help it. Team Plasma caused you to attack us; there's nothing you could have done."

Zekrom huffed, not entirely convinced, but seeming relieved that there was at least some explanation.

Eventually the dragon moved back, managing to escape from the tight hug his trainer had caught him in and letting out a growl. Knowing that White couldn't understand him, he glanced to N, as if asking for a translation.

"Okay," N nodded, a somewhat sad look in his eyes. "Zekrom doesn't have enough energy to stay," he explained. "Team Plasma forced him out of the Dark Stone when they brought him back and, well…"

"So he's going to return to the Dark Stone?" White asked quietly, her gaze not leaving the dragon as she briefly rested a hand on his head.

Zekrom nodded.

For a moment, White said nothing. She didn't want to lose her Pokémon again. But… he was okay now. She'd seen him one more time, and they'd managed to save him from Team Plasma's control. If making him stay in this form would hurt him by forcing him to try and use energy he didn't have…

"That… that's okay," White smiled, moving her hand away at last. She winced at another stab of pain in her arm; she'd used her left hand since her right was still covered in blood, although moving her left arm was painful thanks to the wound. "You'll be okay, right, Zekrom?"

Giving a quiet grunt, Zekrom nodded again, stepping back and standing to his full height once more. A black energy appeared in the air, gradually spreading and engulfing the dragon. There was a bright flash of light that lingered for a few moments before fading, and once it did, Zekrom had vanished, only a small black rock remaining. The Dark Stone.

Black managed to catch the rock before it hit the ground, looking somewhat baffled. "I don't know how, but… I guess we did it. We're still alive." He glanced over at her. "You okay?"

"White!"

She didn't even get the chance to reply as suddenly Cheren, Bianca and Hugh appeared at the gap in the wall Reshiram had created earlier. They must have looped around to get here.

"The heck happened here?" Hugh exclaimed, glancing around at the somewhat destructed room.

"Long story short, Team Plasma locked us in here with a rampaging dragon," Black shrugged. "But we took care of it and everyone's… more or less… okay now."

"White!" Bianca shrieked at the sight of blood. "O-oh my goodness! What happened to you?"

"Um… Dragon Claw…" White replied somewhat sheepishly, deciding not to go into any more details.

"What!?" Cheren cried as he and Bianca raced over. The gym leader cast a quick glare at N as he half-sat, half-fell on the ground next to White. "Sorry… we'd have got here sooner, but we had to do a lot of backtracking to get here…"

"It's fine, honestly," White muttered, clutching her arm once more. The pain was gradually starting to become more bearable but she could still feel tears stinging her eyes.

"_Fine_? You're injured, White!" Cheren exclaimed. He almost sounded like he was scolding her. That was something she was plenty used to by now. "Look, maybe we should get you to the hospital…"

"Nice of you to offer, Cheren, but I don't think there's much chance of me being able to walk to Striaton," White managed a wry smile. She didn't even have the energy to stand right now. Losing blood was starting to make her feel light-headed.

"Dammit, White, we're not leaving you here to bleed to death!"

"I-I… I don't think… Reshiram would mind… i-if you wanted to take her with you…" N mumbled, looking slightly alarmed at Cheren's words. He glanced at the white dragon that was standing next to him; he'd escaped for the cover of the dragon when the gym leader had glared at him.

At his suggestion, Reshiram returned the glance, letting out a quiet grumble. Then she wandered over to White, nudging the trainer's good arm with her nose as if trying to help her up.

White smiled, hooking her arm over the dragon's neck as she was hoisted into the air. "Thanks, Reshiram. Sorry if I end up getting blood on you…"

Reshiram just snorted. She didn't seem too happy about that, but she knew the trainer was hurt and wanted to help her.

Settling herself on the dragon's back, White kept her right arm wrapped around the dragon's neck, trying not to fall off. She looked down at the gym leader. "Cheren, you're not exactly in the best shape either. Want a lift?"

Cheren glanced up at the dragon for a moment. Reshiram let out a quiet growl, probably due to him glaring at her trainer earlier.

"No… it's okay, I'll just walk…"

White stifled a laugh. He wasn't going to risk it. She cast a glance back at N. "I guess you guys are left with the task of trying to find a way to free those Pokémon."

"Yeah…" N muttered, looking around as if trying to work out which way to go.

"Free the Pokémon?" Black echoed. "What, they have some trapped in here or something?"

N nodded.

"Geez, and I thought we were done here," Black sighed. "Well, we'd better start looking then. C'mon, guys."

"U-um…" N said hastily, casting a nervous glance at Hugh. "Actually, I… I'd rather go on my own…"

"Fine by me," Hugh mumbled.

"You guys are hopeless," Black rolled his eyes, walking over to Cheren. "Here. You should probably take this for White. Just don't, like, drop it or anything." He handed him the Dark Stone.

"That's…" Cheren blinked in surprise. After taking a moment to get over his initial shock, he nodded, taking the stone. "Yeah. I'll look after it for a while, okay White?"

"Yeah, okay," White shrugged, wincing slightly. Reshiram let out a questioning grumble.

"Ah… maybe we should get going…" Bianca pointed out, looking concerned for her friends.

"Good idea," Cheren agreed. "We need to get White to the hospital."

_Thanks for acting like I'm not here, _White thought silently. Although, the sooner she was out of here the better. White didn't like this warehouse and the stinging in her arm was agonising.

N walked over to them, briefly resting his hand on the dragon's neck. "I'll see you soon, Reshiram. Take care of White, okay?"

Letting out a quiet grunt, Reshiram nodded before flapping her wings to hover in the air. White clung to the dragon's neck with her good arm, trying her best not to let any blood get on her white feathers.

"N, you sure you'll be okay?" she asked with a frown. "There's still a lot of Team Plasma around… and you don't have any other Pokémon with you…"

"I… well…" N started but trailed off, unable to finish his sentence. He glanced away. "Maybe…"

"I can't let this idiot wander around on his own in a place like this," Black joked, heading over to join them. "I'll go too. We're looking for a way to free some Pokémon, right?"

"They're in cages in one of the labs," White explained. "Apparently some people in white suits have the keys, so I'm assuming they're scientists."

"Hmm," Black muttered. "Well, I think there might have been some keys in the tech room we were in earlier. That seems like a good place to start."

"Black?" N spoke up.

"Yeah?"

"I'm not an idiot."

"Well, that's debatable."

"Well, good luck, guys," White said with a wry smile.

"Pokémon liberation!" Black laughed, saluting.

N just gave him a blank look. "I have the feeling I should be offended by this…"


	27. Liberation

**Only one more chapter to go... let the madness ensue. I do, however, have another story I'm planning to write after this one... it's not EXACTLY a sequel, and I'm not sure when I'll start uploading it or whether it'll have an upload schedule like this one, but I hope you guys will like it c':**

* * *

Black attempted to lead the way as he and N raced through the corridors. It had crossed his mind at least once that he should probably have asked Cheren for that map before going on this expedition to re-find the computer room. Although, they probably needed it more so they could find the way out of this place.

They came to the end of the corridor they had been heading along. _Left or right?_ He couldn't remember. Deciding they'd have to take a wild guess, Black turned left, walking now as he glanced around.

"Um… Black…? Can I ask you something?"

"You just did," Black pointed out dryly, only half paying attention as he wracked his brain to try and work out if any of this seemed familiar. Unfortunately, all the corridors looked the same. "Yeah, sure."

"Well… since you probably know more about people than I do…" N started slowly, as if trying to phrase his question. "Why… why did White do that…?"

"Do what?" Black echoed, glancing back at last.

"Push me out of the way of that attack," N shrugged helplessly. "I mean… she'd have known that Zekrom might have ended up attacking her instead if she did that, and she obviously doesn't like being hurt…"

Black raised an eyebrow. "Geez, N, you honestly don't know?"

"If I knew then I wouldn't be asking!" N huffed.

"Okay, okay, keep your hair on."

"You know that it's not actually possi—"

"Figure of speech, N," Black rolled his eyes.

"So do you actually know or not…?"

"Hm?" Black muttered, having forgotten what the conversation was about in the first place. "Oh, right…" In all honesty, he didn't have a clue how to explain this to N – or whether he'd understand in the first place. He thought about just stating outright that White obviously had some kind of feelings for him, but would N even know what that meant? Well, back to the basics then. "Okay, I guess I'll explain by example. It's kinda like… when you act like a total idiot and jump in front of Pokémon to protect them. Like what I've heard of the whole Hyper Beam incident. I mean, I wasn't actually conscious at the time but I get the gist of what happened."

"Wait, wait," N said, waving his hands and looking utterly confused. "So what you're implying is… White… thinks I'm a Pokémon…?"

Black just stared at him for a moment. Then he slapped a hand to his forehead. "You're impossible, N. No, that's not what I meant."

"Then what _do_ you mean?"

"Okay, let me rephrase what I said before," Black mumbled, trying to think. "Well, what's the reason you do that? Like, why do you protect a Pokémon even if you know there's the chance you could get hurt by doing so?"

N looked thoughtful for a moment. "Well, I don't want them to get hurt."

"And?"

"Um… and…?"

Black tutted. "You're not in touch with your own feelings much, are you? You don't want those Pokémon to get hurt because you care about them, right?"

"Yeah," N nodded. "Pokémon are friends."

"What about in the opposite situation. If White had been the one about to get sliced in half by a dragon, would you try and save her?"

"I-I guess…"

"Is White your friend?"

"Of course!"

"Well, there you have it," Black shrugged.

"I… don't think I understand what you're getting at…"

"Ah, geez. Basically, White cares about you. Whether it's as a friend or something more than that then honestly I couldn't tell you. Probably best if you don't ask her either cuz you might just end up embarrassing her. You understand yet?"

"I-I…" N started. He glanced away, the slightest hint of rosiness in his cheeks. "Yeah… I think so…"

"Well then. If your questions have been answered, let's keep looking for the computers."

* * *

It wasn't long before their search was interrupted.

"You've gotta be kidding me!" Black groaned.

They'd reached the end of another corridor. This one was blocked by one of the sliding doors that had come down when the alarm had been triggered earlier.

"I guess we'll have to go back," N muttered, experimentally trying to lift the shutter, although this one was even heavier that the main door.

"The hell to Team Plasma!" Black shouted. He wanted to get out of this place already, not spend hours backtracking and trying to find that room all over again. Out of sheer frustration he swung his fist, punching the metal.

He only managed to make a slight dent in the door. He hadn't expected that to do much.

"Aagh!" Black reeled back as he got a stabbing pain in his hand. _Dammit, that's the hand I hit Shadow with earlier…_

"Are you okay?" N asked, looking slightly alarmed.

"Shut up, N, or I'll hit you instead!" Black snapped, clutching his hand, the pain causing him to overreact. He felt guilty the second the words had left his mouth.

"Ah! S-sorry…" N muttered, backing away with somewhat fear in his eyes.

Black let out a long sigh. The last thing he wanted was for N to end up being scared of him for the same reasons that he didn't seem to like Hugh. "No, it's okay. Sorry. I'm just pissed off and my hand hurts. I overreacted."

"Oh… okay…"

"You're right," Black admitted grudgingly. "We'll have to go back. I wanna get the heck outta here as soon as possible."

He turned and headed back down the corridor, wondering how they were going to find the way back. This place was a maze. There was no way he'd be able to remember which way they'd gone earlier.

His thoughts were interrupted as seemingly out of nowhere his foot caught on something and he was sent crashing to the ground.

"Ow…" Black muttered, lifting his head from the face plant he'd ended up in. The floors here were bare. What had he tripped over? As he started to scramble back to his feet he glanced back – and was left with a look of somewhat surprise. "Shadow! What the heck was that for!?"

"For punching me in the face!" Shadow snapped, giving him a death glare.

Only Shadow and Mist were here. Dark was nowhere to be seen. N instinctively moved away from them. Black couldn't exactly say he blamed him.

"Okay, okay, but you had it coming to ya," Black tutted, standing up and dusting himself off. "What do you guys want? You said that you weren't going to stop us."

"We're not here to stop you," Shadow explained irritably. "We were sent here by Ghetsis to find out if you were dead."

"Oh, and it's lovely to see you guys too," Black replied sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "Well, we're alive. You got a problem with that?"

"Yes," Shadow muttered.

"Also," Mist added, holding something out in one hand. "We heard you were looking for these."

It was a set of keys.

"What the… how did—? Y'know what, never mind," Black shook his head in disbelief. "Yeah, we're looking for them." _So just give them to us so we don't have to fight, I want to get out of this place._

"Here." She tossed the keys to him and Black had to scramble to catch them. "Like we said, we'll take care of Ghetsis from here. If possible, we'll stop him from doing anything like this again."

"If possible," N echoed quietly with a sigh.

"Because unlike _some_, we still remain loyal to Ghetsis," Shadow said meaningfully. N flinched.

"But after failing three times, he's losing hope on his greed for power," Mist continued calmly. "We'll do our best. But don't bother coming and looking for us, or we _will_ kill you. We promise to try and stop him from creating more plans for Team Plasma; that doesn't mean we'll allow him to be captured by the authorities."

"I see you guys are still such a friendly bunch," Black sighed. "Okay, a deal's a deal. But break your end and the whole thing's off, okay?"

Mist's eyes narrowed. "Okay. You won't be seeing us again."

With that said, the two of them vanished from sight. N let out a sigh of relief. Black was left staring at the keys in his hand for a moment.

"Well," he spoke up eventually. "Think you can find the way to wherever they're keeping these Pokémon?"

"Huh? Oh… yeah, I think so," N replied with a semi-confident nod.

* * *

White wasn't sure how long It was until she finally walked back into the waiting room of the hospital. What she did know was that wasn't something she ever wanted to go through again. Right now she had a bandage wrapped around her left arm right the way from her elbow to her shoulder to cover the ugly scar underneath. She'd needed stitches for it to be able to heal properly. Cheren and Bianca had both offered to sit in the emergency room with her, but she'd turned them down, knowing she wouldn't be able to avoid kicking up a fuss about being in pain. She could tell that her eyes were still slightly swollen from crying.

The second she came back into the room, Bianca hurried over, a bright smile on her face. "White!" she cheered, looking as if she was about to pull her into a hug but deciding against it since she was injured. "You okay now?"

"Yeah," White gave a half-hearted smile. "I mean, it still hurts… but I'll be fine." She glanced at her other friend. "What about you, Cheren?"

"Don't start," Cheren sighed. The gym leader was still sat on one of the seats, holding a bag of ice to the back of his head. "I'm fine. Worry more about yourself."

"Here goes Cheren the selfless hero," White laughed, sitting on the chair next to him. Bianca settled on her other side. "Well. That was certainly a lot crazier than I expected."

"I don't think any of us expected the fight to be quite _that_ dangerous," Cheren said evenly. "It's probably just good that we haven't seen any of the others here. I don't think anyone else has been badly injured."

"That's good," White nodded, kicking her legs under the chair. "I'm not looking forward to seeing my mum soon though… she's going to freak out when she hears what happened…"

Cheren flinched. "Um… yeah… about that…"

"You didn't…" White groaned.

"Sorry," Cheren shrugged with a wry smile. "She was trying to contact you but your Xtransciever was off again, and I guess she was pretty worried and rang me instead… and, well…"

"And so you told her what happened," she sighed.

"I'm sorry! Your mum is pretty frightening when she's worried about you, White," Cheren shivered. "Still, I managed to convince her that you were okay, and she said to make sure you get back to Nuvema Town soon."

"I guess I can deal with that," White rolled her eyes, the slightest hint of a smile on her face.

It wasn't long before there was a shadow in the light created from the glass door at the entrance of the hospital, and the three of them glanced over to see Black shoving the door open with his shoulder. He made his way into the building, hurrying over to join them, giving a quick nod of acknowledgement to the nurse at reception as he walked past.

"Hey guys," he grinned. "Made it, finally. Took longer to find those Pokémon than I thought… never following N through a warehouse maze again, he had no clue where he was going."

"Hey Black," White smiled, giving a laugh. "Sure it's better than trying to rely on _my_ sense of direction! Anyway, where is N?"

"I dunno, off making sure those Pokémon get back to their homes okay," Black shrugged. "You know what he's like."

"Are you okay, Black?" Cheren asked somewhat matter-of-factly. "Generally people don't open doors that way."

"Huh? Oh…" Black muttered, holding up his right hand. "Yeah… I should probably get this checked out…" The knuckles of his hand were even redder than before.

"That's from hitting Shadow?" White asked, her eyes widening slightly.

"Ah, no… I kinda… punched a metal door… long story…" Black smiled weakly, running a hand through his hair. "But, anyways, Team Plasma is gone now. The Shadow Triad said that we wouldn't see them again, and that they wouldn't do anything unless we tried to hunt them and Ghetsis down. So, I guess Unova's safe for another two years, at the very least," he laughed.

"Well then, looks like my work here is done," White smiled half-heartedly.

They'd really managed to do it, despite everything.

They had beaten Team Plasma.


	28. Epilogue

The southwest area of the Unova region was somewhere White had never been to before – and she hadn't known what she'd been missing. She'd spent the day checking out the nearby areas, from the madness of Virbank City and Pokéstar Studios to the calm fields of Floccesy Town, and the ranch just beyond. Now, after making her way through Route 19, she'd ended up in Aspertia City; Black's hometown, and the place where Cheren had set up his Pokémon Gym. The place almost reminded her of Nuvema, just slightly more built-up.

And, of course, she'd discovered this place. Aspertia City's viewpoint. There was an amazing view of the whole area from here; she could see everything from the grass and trees of the route beyond the city to the lakes and mountains in the distance, painted with snow as winter was starting to set in.

White let out a quiet sigh, leaning against the rails. She had to decide what to do next. She had a few days to decide, at least; she needed to go back to the hospital to have the stitches in her arm taken out. She definitely wasn't looking forward to that…

Suddenly she was interrupted from her thoughts by a massive gust of wind. White had to hold onto her hat to stop it from being blown off as she nearly lost her balance. Glancing up to try and work out the source of the draft, she saw a white dragon soaring low in the sky a little way in front of her. Reshiram glanced back, a gleam in her eyes as she let out a happy growl and floated closer to the ground, gliding above the trees as she followed the scenery beyond.

"White…?"

She just about managed to muffle a gasp, glancing behind her. She'd been too distracted watching the dragon to notice that he was there. "N… hey…"

The green-haired teen was standing a few metres away, his hands in his pockets and a half-hearted smile on his face as he looked at her. For a second their eyes met – and that was enough for White to notice the flicker of his blue-grey eyes as his glance briefly turned to something else. The bandage on her arm.

"White… I-I'm sorry…"

"Hey, I told you before, it's not your fault," White assured. "I just didn't want you to get hurt and wasn't quick enough to avoid getting hit, that's all."

"Right…" N sighed, glancing away at the paved ground, not sounding like he entirely believed her. After a moment he glanced back at her again. "I guess this makes three times you've saved me now, huh?"

_Three times? _"There was the Dragon Claw and that whole epidemic with the collapsing floor… that's two, N. I'm surprised you of all people would forget how to count to three," she laughed quietly.

N smiled. "No, there was a time before that. Two years ago. You… you saved me from Ghetsis. From doing something that would only have harmed Pokémon rather than saving them. I've wanted to thank you since that day, but I never really got the chance… so thank you, White."

"I… you're welcome…" White replied, somewhat bewildered. She'd never known he'd seen it like that. But perhaps he was right.

There was a moment of silence, no sound other than the nearby rustling of leaves on the gentle breeze.

"Well… what are you going to do now…?" N asked. "I mean, since Team Plasma is gone…"

White paused for a moment, trying to think how to respond. "As soon as I've had these stitches taken out… I'm leaving Unova. I only returned to help deal with Team Plasma in the first place."

"But... why? Can't you just stay here? I-I mean, you still have a home here, right…?"

"I guess, but…" White had to glance away at the hurt in his eyes, the pleading in his voice. "It's just… it's not the same anymore. Everyone's moved on without me. Even my mum. I don't… I don't belong here anymore."

"I-I don't understand!" N cried. "I don't want you to leave… you're the only proper human friend I've ever had… I don't want to be alone again…!"

White blinked hard to force back the tears brimming in her eyes. This was like two years ago, when he'd told her he was leaving. Yet after everything they'd been through recently, it hurt even more…

Unless…

"N… why don't you come with me? I mean, if you want to…"

At her words, his eyes lit up immediately, bright with hope and surprise. "I… do… do you really mean it…?"

For a moment, White bit her lip, trying to get rid of the lump that had formed in her throat.

The next thing she knew, she'd run over and thrown her arms around him. N looked completely shocked as he was nearly thrown over backwards, just about managing to keep his balance as he was pulled into the tight embrace.

"Of course I really mean it, you idiot!" White couldn't even tell if she was laughing or crying, just that she hadn't been this happy in a long time. "I wouldn't say so if I didn't."

"White…" N breathed. Hesitantly, as if he wasn't entirely sure what to do, he wrapped his arms around her shoulders, pulling her closer. "I… th-thank you…" he managed to choke out at last, letting out a strangled sob.

White couldn't help but smile slightly. "N, it's okay. There's no need to cry." Although, that was probably hypocritical of her considering the tears of happiness she could feel threatening to spill down her cheeks.

"Sorry," he sniffed. "Can't help it…"

White let out a contented sigh. She wanted to bury her face in his shirt but with her cap on that was near impossible, so she settled for resting her head under his chin instead. He didn't seem to mind. If he did, he would have pushed her away by now. Instead, he simply rested his head on hers, letting out a quiet sigh.

Everything was okay now. N was with her – even after everything that had happened he was okay, although she made sure not to hug him too tightly in case he was still bruised from that Hyper Beam. Team Plasma was gone and unlikely to be causing trouble again. Zekrom may not have been with her physically anymore, but she still had the Dark Stone.

And N was staying with her this time. She wasn't going to have to deal with losing him again.

For a while, the two of them stayed there, safe in each other's arms. White felt like she wanted to stay here forever, although she knew that wouldn't happen. Eventually she drew back from the hug slightly, glancing up at him with a smile.

"I think Black's waiting for us," she shrugged. "I was probably supposed to meet up with him ages ago. You wanna come too?"

N blinked at her words for a moment. Then he nodded, smiling. "Yeah, okay."

"C'mon then, let's go," White laughed, taking his hand and leading the way back to the flight of steps. "Any idea where Black's house is?"

"Nope."

"Me neither. I hope he's waiting around outside somewhere…"

* * *

It was four days after they'd defeated Team Plasma. Black was enjoying the smell of the ocean breeze as the trio headed through Route 22, Reshiram hovering in the air above as usual. Anyone who was out on the route watched the dragon in awe and surprise, but to be honest Black was pretty much used to the legendary by now.

"Not far now," White commented as they headed up the slope to Route 23. "Well… not far for you at least, Black."

"Yeah, yeah," he laughed, though there was still a hint of sadness his voice.

It didn't seem that long since they'd first met. It had probably only been just over a week. Yet now, White and N were leaving Unova. And in all honesty, he was sad to see them go…

The past few days had been spent travelling around. Black had shown the two of them Aspertia City, including his house. Needless to say, it had taken them a while to drag N away from the model Ferris wheel and Darumaka doll that sat on the desk near the door. Since then they'd travelled around most of Unova, sometimes accompanied by Cheren and Bianca, showing White what had happened in the two years since she was gone. They'd travelled through the marine tunnel, gone swimming in the Humilau City gym – it had taken a lot of coaxing to persuade Cheren to join them – and even went to check out the Pokémon World Tournament. Black and White had entered the Unova Leaders competition, both of them making it to the final round, although this time White had managed to beat him. Still, it had been a pretty epic battle, emphasised by just how much the crowd had been cheering for the two of them.

"Well, I guess this is it…" White sighed as they reached the north of the route. The forest beyond marked the edge of Unova, and as far as Black was travelling with them.

"Yeah…" Black shrugged. He walked forward and pulled her into a friendly hug. "I'm gonna miss you guys. Come back to Unova some time, okay?"

"Sure," she smiled, returning the hug. "And don't punch anyone else in the face, okay?"

"Hah, I'll try," he laughed, stepping back. He turned to N. "I'd hug you too but that'd be kinda weird, so you'll have to make do with a handshake instead," he joked, holding out his left hand. He still had a bandage on his right one; he'd managed to chip a couple of bones in his hand from punching that door.

"Okay," N shrugged, taking his outstretched hand and shaking it. After a moment he drew his hand back, glancing at White. "How far are we travelling, anyway?"

"Not sure," White admitted with a nervous laugh. "Don't worry; I'm sure we'll find the way. Might just take a while to get there."

There was a soft _thwump_ accompanied by a draft of air as the dragon landed on the ground nearby. Reshiram looked to N, letting out a quiet growl. There was something… different about her. The dragon always seemed to be stubborn about something or other, but right now she almost sounded sad…

"Reshiram…?" N questioned, taking a step towards the dragon almost warily, sensing something was wrong. "What's the matter…?"

A grumble echoing in her throat, Reshiram moved over to nuzzle his shoulder, giving a quiet yowl in reply.

N seemed to understand what the dragon had said. And from the looks of things, it wasn't something particularly good. His eyes widened slightly as he ran a hand over the dragon's feathers. "But… Reshiram, I…"

The dragon looked up with a stubborn snort that ruffled the hair at the side of his face. A sad but determined look in her eyes, Reshiram gave a nod, letting out another quiet grumble.

For a moment, N stood there silently, still refusing to let go of the dragon. Yet after a few seconds he finally glanced up, tears brimming in his eyes. "I… o-okay, Reshiram… I understand. You're right. It's not right for me to take you away from Unova, I'm sorry." He wrapped his arms around the dragon's neck in somewhat of a hug, burying his face in her feathers.

"N…" White murmured.

Half rolling her eyes at the girl as if to say 'you get used to it', Reshiram briefly lowered her head, returning the hug to the best of her ability. A moment later she gently tugged on his hair, as if telling him to let go.

"Ow," N muttered, rubbing the back of his head as he stepped away. The tears in his eyes now flowed freely down his face, but he wiped them away with the back of his hand. "Okay, Reshiram. I-I'll see you again some day, right?"

With a confident nod, Reshiram stood back up to her full height, letting out a loud roar which echoed around the field and trees, almost seeming to cause the ground to shake.

"I'm assuming that was a yes," Black commented somewhat sarcastically.

"Black… can I ask you a favour?" White asked eventually.

"That depends," Black shrugged with a smile. "If this is gonna end up like the last time you asked me for a favour…"

"No, no," she gave a half-hearted laugh. "But… could you please take this to Dragonspiral Tower?"

It took a moment for Black to notice what she was holding, cradling like a piece of china. The black orb that was the Dark Stone.

"That's…" he muttered. "White, are you sure?"

"I'm sure," she assured, nodding. "Me and Zekrom may have been through a lot, but… he's like Reshiram. One of the legendary dragons of Unova. And if Reshiram is staying here, well… you can't have truth without ideals, or ideals without truth, right? That's what causes problems in the world."

For a moment, the two of them just stared at her.

"… What…?"

"That was… strangely deep," Black smiled. "But if that's how you really feel, then sure. I'll take the stone to Dragonspiral Tower."

"Thanks," White said gratefully, carefully placing the rock in his hands.

The white dragon gave a quiet grumble from nearby, moving over to nudge Black's shoulder.

"Um…" he blinked, then looked to N. "Translation?"

"She wants to go with you to the tower," N shrugged. "I guess that's not surprising. This is Zekrom you have there, after all."

"Oh… well sure, so long as you don't either kill me or destroy anything on the way there," Black joked, watching the dragon as she rolled her eyes at him.

"I guess we'd better get going," White commented. "I don't know how long it'll take to get there, but I want to get there before it gets dark…"

"Okay," N nodded. He glanced at Reshiram, giving a wave. "Goodbye, my friend… I'm sure we'll meet again some day!"

Reshiram let out a yowl, flapping her wings slightly which was probably supposed to be a wave.

"That goes for you too, Black," White smiled. "We will return to Unova some day, and you'd better be there waiting for us, okay?"

"It's a deal," Black laughed, waving them off.

As the two of them headed off into the forest, Black glanced up at Reshiram, who was still towering over him. After watching the others leave for a moment, she returned the glance, tipping her head slightly to one side.

"I guess we're heading over to the tower then, eh Reshiram?" Black shrugged. "Better put this in my bag. Don't want anything to happen to it on the way there…" He put the Dark Stone away, cushioned slightly by all the other random things he carried around with him. Since it was a rock – and a Pokémon as well – he doubted it would break easily, but he didn't want to take any chances.

Once the stone was in the safety of his bag, Reshiram gave a quiet grumble, turning away slightly. She flicked her head, as if telling him to get on her back.

"So Braviary is spared the journey, I see," he joked. "Fine then. But don't you dare throw me off."

Reshiram just rolled her eyes once more as he climbed onto her back, settling himself amongst the feathers. The dragon was actually pretty comfortable. Definitely compared to Zekrom, at least. No wonder N didn't seem to mind flying.

At the thought of his friends, Black cast one final glance back at the others. He could still just about see White and N through the trees as they headed out on their journey. As far away as they were, though, he didn't miss White reach for N's hand as they walked along. Shooting her what must have been a slightly surprised glance, N didn't protest, instead curling his hand around hers.

Black couldn't help a slight smile creep onto his face. "I totally called it," he laughed. When the dragon gave him a confused look, he continued. "C'mon, Reshiram, let's go. We got a job to do, remember?"

Giving a quiet huff, Reshiram nodded. The dragon lifted her wings, taking off smoothly into the air.

* * *

"Holy damn this is _fast_!"

Black had to cling on to Reshiram's feathers with one hand, using the other to stop his visor from getting blown away. Apparently, the dragon had a few tricks he hadn't known before. Such as when she was in a hurry, she could use the turbine in her tail like a rocket booster…

He couldn't help but get a feeling of relief when the tower finally came into view. It was old and dilapidated, and sections of the walls had collapsed leaving the top floor completely open, but that only added to the mysterious air the tower had. It was a place of legends, after all.

As they reached the tower, Reshiram floated carefully down to land on the high stone floor, careful not to crash into any of the crumbling walls. Once she finally settled, Black hopped down from her back, taking the chance to quickly glance around at the room. This tower looked so ancient. He'd heard the stories of how this place had been here for thousands of years and to be quite honest, he could believe that.

Reshiram let out a quiet grumble, nudging his bag.

"Okay, okay," he rolled his eyes with a slight smile, gently pushing the dragon away as he opened his bag to retrieve the Dark Stone from inside. As he held it out in front of him, he tipped his head to one side. "What now? White asked me to bring this here, but she never said what I was actually supposed to do with—"

He broke off as suddenly a mass of energy seemed to explode from the rock, throwing him backwards. As Black sat up, rubbing the back of his head, he saw that the stone was now floating in the air in the centre of the room. It almost seemed to be drawing in energy from the surroundings, as if the area itself contained some kind of power…

Soon there was so much of that energy surrounding the Dark Stone that the rock had disappeared completely. It was almost like a black hole. But there was something inside, getting bigger, as if coming towards them.

Zekrom.

The dragon was curled up, as if he'd been inside the stone. Yet once he was outside of the mass of energy, his eyes flicked open. Wings opening out, the dragon burst out of the energy, landing heavily on the stone floor. Electricity crackled in the air as the generator in his tail sparked with blue lightning, and Zekrom let out an ear-splitting roar. It was soon accompanied by a slightly higher yowl from the white dragon, turbine blazing with fire.

For once, Black didn't know what to say. Not that he would have been heard anyway. The sight of the two legendary dragons was breathtaking.

Once the echoes of their cries faded, the two dragons stood in silence for a moment. Reshiram let out a quiet snort, stirring up some of the smoke that had gathered in the air.

Zekrom blinked briefly, his piercing red eyes finally coming to rest on the boy. He gave a slight nod, letting out a quiet grunt which almost seemed like a 'thank you'. Looking to Reshiram, the black dragon growled quietly. It was responded by a grumble.

A moment later, both dragons spread their wings. A duet of yowls echoed throughout the tower, possibly reaching farther across the land. Then they took off, pillars of fire and lightning spiralling into the sky before vanishing into the swirling clouds which had gathered above.

The clouds soon dispersed, showing the blue sky beyond. There was no sign of the legendary dragons other than a lingering trail of smoke. Yet they were still there somewhere.

With Zekrom and Reshiram to protect it, Unova would be safe.

* * *

**So. Uh. The End. ouo**

**First of all I'd like to say thank you to those who read, favourited, reviewed or followed this story! It may not be that popular, but I had fun writing it, and I hope you guys liked reading it too ^^**

**And I hope the shippers are happy also. Haha**

**I also hope I didn't screw up any of the character's personalities too bad owo**

**But neyh, I think I may write more Pokémon fanfic in the future~ (heck, I'm writing another one right now haha) So, see you soon, fandom!**


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